The Second Darkness
by fireboy
Summary: [Completed] After the Battle for Hogwarts Harry begins training to kill Voldemort. Meanwhile, in the the northernmost Highlands of Scotland Voldemort is gathering an army and forming a plan that would destroy Good forever. HPCC.
1. The Recovery of Hogwarts

A/N Here it is, the second part in the "Dark" trilogy, if you haven't read "A Candle in the Dark" then I seriously suggest you do before you read this. I hope you enjoy it.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.  
  
The Second Darkness.  
  
Chapter 1: The Recovery of Hogwarts.  
  
A week had passed since the Battle for Hogwarts, the dying had died, the wounded were healed, Hogwarts was slowly recovering,  
  
And Harry was a hero.  
  
Even before the Battle, Harry had been a hero, but now he was revered beyond heroism, he was closer to being revered as a god. As he walked down the halls of Hogwarts, people stopped and stared at him, and when there was no-one else around a few even fell to one knee as a sign of respect, a sign of respect usually reserved for a king.  
  
Only a few noticed the most unobvious change in him, the way he walked, they way he held himself. He had the walk of a warrior, he moved silently, with a posture that showed he had confidence in himself and in his abilities.  
  
He had tried several times to explain that it was not only him that had fought in that battle, that the rest of the of the DA had fought but it changed nothing. The fact that he had led the DA was enough to distinguish him.  
  
But not everyone held him in the greatest of awe.  
  
The Slytherins hated him more then ever, the enmity rose so much between the Slytherins and the Gryffindors that they could no longer been in the same class together.  
  
But still the fact remained; Harry Potter was the hero of the wizarding world.  
  
******  
  
Harry was late for breakfast, he sprinted down the marble staircase and towards the Great Hall, he slowed to a walk just as he got the double doors. He opened one and stepped through,  
  
And the fighting instincts he had acquired in the battle tingled and as result he threw himself to the right, drawing his wand as he did so, he had learnt to trust his instincts, sometimes they were the only thing between you and death.  
  
He heard the sound of spells thumping into wood. He stood up quickly.  
  
Breakfast was the perfect time for an ambush as there were rarely any teachers present, Harry registered sub-consciously.  
  
Draco Malfoy stood in front of him, about ten feet away, his pale face even paler and his eyes wild, bordering insanity, with sheer fury.  
  
"My father is dead because of you." He hissed.  
  
"Good, the bastard deserved to die." Harry replied calmly. The Slytherins hissed angrily. Harry pocketed his wand and turned away. Once again his fighting instincts took over and Harry ducked, a spell shot over his head. Harry spun round drawing his wand as he did so.  
  
"My father deserved to live." Malfoy screamed.  
  
"Your father murdered hundreds of innocent people on the orders of Voldemort, and you say he deserved to live?"  
  
"My father deserved to live." Malfoy repeated.  
  
"You're mad." Once again Harry turned round, almost at once he was hit by a spell that caused him to skid across the floor. Harry leapt to his feet. Malfoy was standing there, looking triumphant. To the surprise of everyone in the Great Hall Harry was still smiling.  
  
"Voldemort threw his entire army against the DA and I and I came close to death a number of times yet I survived, in fact I've faced and cheated death more times then anyone else in this Hall, and you expect me to be scared of you?"  
  
"I'll kill you, you killed my father so I'll kill you and I'll kill that old fool Dumbledore!" Harry's temper flared.  
  
"I'd like to see you try." He sneered. Malfoy opened his mouth but Harry was quicker, he hit Malfoy in the gut with a slashing curse and then performed a banishing spell on him that flung him across the room. The Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs that weren't at the battle looked at Harry in awe, they saw not the kind, usually quiet boy, but the Boy-Who- Lived, standing tall, his face expressionless, yet grim determination and defiance in his eyes. They saw the boy who had faced and cheated death. They saw the Harry Potter who had led the DA to victory in battle.  
  
Without a word Harry turned and strode out of the Great Hall. Four figures ran to catch up with him. They caught up with out in the grounds and Ron stepped in front of Harry and placed his hands on Harry's shoulders to stop him from walking away.  
  
"Lucius Malfoy dead? Jesus, Harry, you're really gonna have to watch your back now!" Ron exclaimed.  
  
"What's new?" growled Harry.  
  
"No Harry, He's right. You're really gonna have to watch your back. Every opportunity he gets Malfoy will try to hurt you." Agreed Ginny. Harry turned away.  
  
"Harry, please, Malfoy's insane," everyone turned to look at Hermione, her eyes were fearful and there were tears forming there.  
  
"Don't be stupid." Said Ron, but he didn't sound convinced.  
  
"Didn't you see the look in Malfoy's eyes?" snapped Hermione, she turned to Harry. "Look at it this way, Harry. Malfoy respected his father because he was a Death Eater. And you killed him. You, his worst enemy, killed him. He isn't angry because he loved his father, he's angry because it was you that killed him and Malfoy just sees that as another victory to you, a victory that he can't beat easily. The only way he feels he can beat it is if he kills you."  
  
"How do you know that?" demanded Ron.  
  
"It's obvious, Malfoy desires power above all else, and power is easiest to obtain through conquest, through victory. Thus, Malfoy sees everything as victory or defeat, every time he sees Harry gain another 'victory' over him, he feels he has less and less power which makes him angrier and angrier. Power drives men insane, look at Quirrel for example, eventually it drives them totally insane, and thus they will kill to achieve it. And, if you ask me, I don't think Malfoy has ever been properly sane." Everyone looked stunned at these two speeches.  
  
"Are you saying, that Malfoy will try to kill Harry?" questioned Cho eventually.  
  
"I'm saying it's possible but," Hermione gave a weak smile, "I don't think he will try to kill him under Dumbledore's nose."  
  
"Sweet Jesus." Breathed Ron. They all shot sidelong glances at Harry. He looked thoughtful but not scared.  
  
"Does anything scare you?" exclaimed Ron.  
  
"A lot." Harry said shortly.  
  
"You weren't scared in the Battle." Said Ginny, an unusual admiring tone to her voice.  
  
"I was. I just didn't show it." With that he turned and walked off.  
  
"He has changed a lot." Ron said forcefully.  
  
"Of course he has, I mean look what he's been through." said Hermione. They continued to watch Harry until he disappeared into the Entrance Hall.  
  
******  
  
Harry fought back the tears right until he got to the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. Then he couldn't hold them back any longer. He slumped against the wall and let the tears fall silently. Hogwarts was slowly recovering, life for everyone else was slowly returning to normal.  
  
But not for him.  
  
It seemed that every corner he turned Death was staring at him. He fought hard to stay calm, to keep his face expressionless, to be strong.  
  
It was becoming harder and harder to do so.  
  
Just one more corner, he vowed to himself in his last moments of consciousness, just one more look at Death, and I give up. I can't fight this anymore. As he slowly blacked out a small voice reminded him,  
  
There will be one more corner; it's in the prophecy.  
  
******  
  
The world swam back into view, for a moment everything was all right, then he remembered. The scythe was falling, time was running out.  
  
He sat bolt upright. His vision still blurry.  
  
"The scythe is falling, the hourglass is draining. The corner approaches and Death waits on the other side." He exclaimed loudly in a panicky voice.  
  
He fell back onto the.bed, then he realised, he was in the hospital wing.  
  
"Mr Weasley go get the Headmaster." He heard someone snap. Harry struggled to focus, Professor McGonagall, Ginny, Cho and Hermione eventually swam into view.  
  
"Hold on, Mr Potter." Said Professor McGonagall.  
  
"Can't," mumbled Harry, "Death.Death's scythe.the scythe.it's falling.the scythe is bloody.I see.faces.familiar faces."  
  
"You're delirious, Mr Potter." He heard hurried footsteps and then Ron and the Headmaster appeared. At that point Madam Pomfrey appeared and she poured a potion into his mouth. A few minutes later Harry felt stronger.  
  
"Could you leave us." Said Dumbledore. It wasn't a request, it was an order. When the room was empty Dumbledore sat down on the chair next to Harry's bed.  
  
"What's wrong with me? Am I going insane?" asked Harry as soon as the Headmaster had \sat down.  
  
"Not quite, I believe you are suffering from posttraumatic stress, more commonly known in the muggle world as 'shell-shock.' The responsibility upon your shoulders and your exhaustion is causing you stress." Harry thought about this.  
  
"There's no way out is there?" Dumbledore looked sad.  
  
"I fear not, usually a long vacation is recommended, but due to the current circumstances there is no time for vacation." Desperate to steer the conversation away from it's current depressing topic Harry searched around for a lighter topic.  
  
"Professor, some people, they.kneel to me. Why?" The Headmaster chuckled.  
  
"It seems silly doesn't it? They do it as a sign of respect, to them you are the hero that saved their lives. It is a sign of gratitude."  
  
"You fought in that battle aswell, so did Ron, Hermione and Cho and a lot of other people so why do they just kneel to me?"  
  
"Because you led the DA, I am famous for being the only person Voldemort was ever scared of. They kneel to you because you matched my ability at a much younger age, which raises you above me. It's hard to understand why people kneel to you when they do, but they do it for a reason." There was silence for a few minutes,  
  
"What did you see?" asked Dumbledore, the question caught Harry off guard.  
  
"When I was delirious?"  
  
"Yes, you see, when you are delirious it can often be a form of divination. Sometimes you are foreseeing the future, but it is often seen in the form of a riddle." Harry thought back, it is hard to remember things when you are delirious.  
  
"I saw.Death, and he had a scythe.the scythe was bloody and.I saw faces, familiar faces." For a moment Harry could have sworn he saw a spasm of fear cross the old mans face, but when he next spoke it was in his usual calm voice.  
  
"The scythe was bloody? And you saw familiar faces?" Harry nodded. Dumbledore sighed.  
  
"I will do something I would usually not do. I will tell you the meaning of your vision. First you saw Death, if you saw only Death without his scythe it means that someone could die, if you see Death with his scythe, it means that someone will die. If the scythe is clean it means that someone will die at any point, they could die in seventy years time, they could die in seven minutes time, if the scythe is bloody then at most they have a year to live. The faces are those who will die. The faces you saw are the people who have at most a year to live." Harry's eyes widened in shock and he leapt out of bed,  
  
"You're lying, this can't be happening, YOU'RE LYING!"  
  
"Harry," Dumbledore said urgently, you mustn't tell anyone who you saw and you mustn't try and change it, they are destined to die and there is nothing you can do."  
  
"You're lying." Harry repeated once more before falling to the floor in a dead faint.  
  
He woke to see Ron, Hermione and Cho standing by his bed looking at him anxiously.  
  
"You have got to stop doing this to us." Demanded Ron before throwing his arms around Harry in a brotherly hug. Harry grinned at him.  
  
"Sorry, mate." Harry was determined to stay cheerful, as he didn't want any awkward questions asked.  
  
"What's wrong with you anyway? How come you keep fainting all the time?" Asked Ron.  
  
"Dumbledore reckons I'm suffering from posttraumatic stress." Hermione nodded,  
  
"That would make sense." Cho caught Hermione's eye. Hermione nodded.  
  
"Ron let's go." Ordered Hermione. Ron looked up from where he was handing Harry a chocolate frog.  
  
"Why?" he asked confused. Hermione sighed. She looked pointedly from Cho to Harry and back again. Ron looked at her blankly. Hermione did it again. Same result. Eventually Hermione had to repeat the movement another three times before Ron got it.  
  
"Ahh." He said on a voice of dawning comprehension, he gave Harry an enormous wink before following Hermione out.  
  
"Subtlety really isn't Ron's strongpoint." Said Harry. Cho laughed softly. Harry sat up and Cho sat next to him. Harry put his arm round her and pulled her closer to him. They talked softly for an hour before Cho had to go.  
  
"Get better soon, Harry. I hate it when you're ill." Harry smiled at her.  
  
"Don't worry, I will."  
  
The next day Harry was allowed to leave the Hospital Wing. It turned out that Hermione had been right. Malfoy didn't seem sane. He would stare at Harry with the deepest loathing in his eyes for minutes on end while they were waiting for class. Harry tried hard not to let it affect him but he couldn't help being slightly unnerved by the cold, grey eyes that followed his every move.  
  
Harry was waiting for Defence Against the Dark Arts to begin and, as usual, Malfoy was watching him. Hermione and Ron proved their friendship for Harry once again by positioning themselves between Malfoy and Harry. Ron had his wand out and was casually twirling it around his fingers, carefully watching Malfoy out of the corner of his eye.  
  
As he entered the classroom, glad to be away from Malfoy's staring, it struck Harry once again that the Weasley's were putting themselves in an incredible amount of danger because of him. The thought saddened him as, once again he realised that he should not allow them to remain close to him.  
  
He took his usual seat next to Ron.  
  
"Your family shouldn't be my friend." Ron looked highly disconcerted,  
  
"What?"  
  
"Your family shouldn't be my friend." Harry repeated slightly angry.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because you're putting yourselves in too much danger." Ron looked at him.  
  
"Don't be thick, Weasley's never abandon family, whether or not it would put them out of danger by doing so." Harry was touched. He felt a rush of gratitude towards Ron.  
  
"Thanks." Ron grinned at him. They turned their attention to Moody who was explaining the concept of the advanced banishing charm, one that could be used in battle. Harry was tempted to start daydreaming, he knew all this already. He resisted the temptation as Moody could be incredibly unpredictable and you never knew what he would do next.  
  
Moody instructed them to practise on a few life-size dummies. Almost lazily Harry expertly banished one of the dummies across the room. He then lay back on his seat and closed his eyes.  
  
"Bored?" Moody growled a few minutes later.  
  
"Very." Replied Harry without opening his eyes. He then opened his eyes and grinned up at Moody's scarred face. "How you doing, Moody?"  
  
"The word, Potter, is sir." Moody growled good-naturedly, "You're like Sirius, you never did have much respect for your superiors." Harry grinned again.  
  
"Sorry, sir." Moody laughed softly.  
  
"Here's a tricky little spell I thought I'd give you to practise, it can be very useful, but it is very difficult, not many wizards use it as it is so difficult and that would give you an advantage in battle. It's called the blinding hex and it will temporarily blind an opponent for about ten seconds." Moody showed Harry how to perform the blinding spell. A jet of white light shot out of the end of Moody's wand and hit the opposite wall. Harry then p tried it.  
  
"Noculus" Nothing happened, Moody smirked at him and walked off. Harry was determined to be able to do the spell and after half an hours hard work he could sometimes achieve a very faint white jet of light.  
  
"Homework tonight, write a foot long essay on the theory of the banishing spell, Potter your homework is a foot long essay on the advantages and disadvantages of the blinding curse.  
  
"You didn't do the banishment spell?" said Ron.  
  
"I can do it already, Moody gave me the blinding hex, it's seriously difficult though."  
  
"Cool," said Ron, "Are you going to teach it to the DA?"  
  
"Probably, but first I've got to get the hang of it."  
  
Neither Harry, Ron nor Hermione noticed Malfoy watching them.  
  
'He's taken everything I ever wanted' Malfoy thought to himself, 'and now he's suffering from stress, I could use that to my advantage. Potter is going to regret killing my father.'  
  
A/N Ok, that really was not too great a chapter. The first few chapters, especially this one, are introductory, this chapter is an introduction to some other things, alongside the main plot, that are going to be going on in this fic, Harry's stress, his vision etc etc, that's why it is so jumbled. You will find out who Harry saw in his vision at the end on the trilogy.  
  
LogicalRaven - Keep the reviews coming, pal, your support really helps!  
  
Sarah - Sorry about not e-mailing you but my e-mail is currently not working.  
  
I hope you enjoy The Second Darkness.  
  
Looking forward to getting peoples reviews.  
  
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing!  
  
Fireboy 


	2. The Training of the Assassin

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.  
  
The Second Darkness.  
  
Chapter 2: The Training of the Assassin.  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione returned to the Gryffindor common room, Ron immediately dashed up to the boy's dormitory and returned with his chess set under his arm.  
  
"Want a game, Harry?"  
  
"No, I think I'll do Moody's essay."  
  
"Hermione?" Hermione shook her head.  
  
"Come on, Hermione, you have to be intelligent to play so you should be good at it." Said Ron, Hermione rolled her eyes.  
  
"What I want to know then," said Harry smirking, "is how you ever became good at it."  
  
"Oh ha ha." Said Ron sarcastically, "Please, Hermione." He flashed her what he thought was a charming smile. Harry suppressed a snort with difficulty. Hermione sighed, closed her book and sat down opposite Ron. Ron grinned and started setting up the chess figures. Harry leaned back in the couch and prepared to watch the game that would no doubt end with a victory for Ron.  
  
"The only reason Ron is so desperate to play Hermione is that it is about the only thing he can beat her at." Ginny said, Harry jumped slightly, he hadn't heard her approach. He grinned at the youngest Weasley sitting next to him.  
  
"True, true. Or it could be the fact that he is so infatuated with her that he's got to do everything with her." Ginny laughed.  
  
"What are you two laughing at?" demanded Ron. Harry grinned evilly.  
  
"The fact that you two fancy each other stupid but are too scared to admit it to each other." Ginny burst out laughing at this.  
  
"HARRY." Bellowed Ron and Hermione at the same time.  
  
"Just admit it to each other. It's not hard." Whined Harry. Ginny was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of her eyes.  
  
Harry was forced to leap over the couch in order to avoid a heavy spellbook that was flung at his head. Harry stumbled out of the common room in a fit of laughter. He returned five minutes later having calmed down slightly. As soon as he returned he saw Ron staring transfixed at Hermione as she looked at the board trying to decide her next move he could not help but burst out laughing again.  
  
******  
  
Roger Davies, Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Crabbe and Goyle were hidden behind a bookshelf in the library out of sight of Madam Pince.  
  
Roger Davies watched Draco Malfoy pace excitedly up and down warily. He suspected that Malfoy had gone insane. Malfoy was clasping and unclasping his hands in feverish excitement. Malfoy stopped pacing and stared at Davies, a manic glint in his eye.  
  
"I know exactly how to get back at Potter."  
  
"How?" said Davies cautiously, he wasn't sure whether he really wanted to know.  
  
"Cho," breathed Malfoy as if it was the greatest idea in the world, "We hurt Cho. Badly. And when Potter comes running we hurt him really badly."  
  
"There is no way we are going to touch Cho." Protested Davies angrily. Malfoy's wand was pointing at Davies' heart in a flash.  
  
"Yes, we are." Nott stopped leaning against the bookcase and pushed Malfoys arm down, Malfoy started laughing manically "yes, we are. We're going to hurt her, make her bleed, make her cry out for mercy. And when Saint Potter comes running we'll hurt him, break him, kill him" Malfoy's insane laughter echoed in their ears. Davies was sure, Malfoy was insane.  
  
******  
  
Harry sat next to the lake with Ginny. They had spent the last half an hour teasing Ron and Hermione mercilessly before being forced out of the under a hail of spellbooks, cushions, chess pieces and anything else Ron and Hermione could get their hands on.  
  
"What I don't get is it's so obvious that they like each other, yet they're too scared to admit it." Laughed Ginny. Harry grinned.  
  
"It is obvious, so why can't they see it?" Ginny smiled at him.  
  
"Your love is obvious to everyone except to you." She said, Harry grinned at her slyly.  
  
"So it isn't obvious to you?" Ginny smiled.  
  
"What makes you say that?" she asked curiously.  
  
"You're in love." She laughed.  
  
"With who?"  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" Harry said grinning.  
  
"Not to me it isn't."  
  
"Me, of course." Ginny finally got what was going on, although she had suspected what was happening for a few minutes.  
  
"You shouldn't be flirting with me!" She exclaimed, appalled, amused and slightly pleased.  
"Why not?" He pouted, "a bit of harmless flirting never hurt anyone."  
  
"Are you always this flirty?"  
  
"Only when there are pretty girls around." Ginny laughed pleased. Harry stopped smiling and became serious.  
  
"We're friends aren't we? Friends flirt."  
  
"Only when they are of the opposite sex." Teased Ginny. Harry sighed in mock exasperation.  
  
"I had hoped I had implied that."  
  
"Seriously though, I reckon Ron and Hermione should get together, do you think they ever will." Harry looked thoughtful for a minute.  
  
"I can't tell, hopefully, but I really cannot tell." They sat talking for a few more minutes before they saw Cho walking towards them.  
  
"Hi," she said, "What have you two been up to?" she asked.  
  
"Not much," replied Harry, "Talking, joking, flirting that sought of thing." Ginny looked slightly worried.  
  
"You don't mind?" she said anxiously.  
  
"Mind what?" asked Cho puzzled.  
  
"Us flirting." Cho laughed kindly.  
  
"You're friends, friends flirt." Harry and Ginny looked at each other and burst out laughing."  
  
"What's so funny?" asked Cho smiling.  
  
"That's exactly what Harry said when I told him he shouldn't be flirting with me." Cho laughed. Ginny jumped up suddenly.  
  
"Damn, I forgot."  
  
"What?" asked Harry.  
  
"I've got McGonagall's transfiguration essay to do. See you later" She turned and ran off in the direction of the castle.  
  
"You don't mind us flirting do you?" asked Harry concernedly. Cho laughed, sat on his lap and snuggled into his arms. She closed her eyes contentedly  
  
"You and Ginny are close friends and, if you think about it, flirting is just teasing with more affection in it, so all you're doing is showing your affection for each other." Harry smiled.  
  
"Typical Ravenclaw, always has an explanation for everything." He teased. Cho hit him on the shoulder without opening her eyes. They sat like that for about half an hour before Harry noticed that Cho's breathing had become peaceful. He looked down at her and saw that she had fallen asleep. He smiled gently before leaning back against the boulder behind him.  
  
Just five more minutes, he thought sleepily, just five more minutes then we'll go back up to the castle. Less then a minute later Harry fell asleep.  
  
"Ginny," said Hermione anxiously with Ron at her side at eight thirty that night, "Have you seen Harry?" Ginny looked thoughtful for a minute.  
  
"Not for about four hours, last time I saw him he was by the lake with Cho."  
  
"Come on!" Hermione grabbed Ron by the arm and pulled him out of the Gryffindor common room. They had been worried about Harry, ever since hadn't turned up for dinner and then he still hadn't appeared for another two hours after that. They ran out of the Entrance Hall.  
  
"Over there!" exclaimed Hermione pointing to two figures by the lake. They ran towards them. They slowed to a stop just as they got to them. Hermione opened her mouth to have a go at Harry for worrying her like that, when Ron suddenly put his hand over her mouth.  
  
"Look closely at them." He whispered in her ear before taking his hand off of her mouth. Hermione looked at them and with a jolt of surprise she realised that they were both asleep.  
  
"They look so peaceful, so perfect together," whispered Hermione, "This is how it should be for them, they shouldn't have to worry about Voldemort." Ron nodded.  
  
"C'mon, we'd better wake them up." He whispered. They moved silently towards them.  
  
"Harry, wake up." Whispered Hermione shaking Harry gently. Harry opened his eyes and smiled.  
  
"Hey Hermione, what time is it?" Hermione smiled at the sight of Harry looking so content.  
  
"Eight thirty. And might I add you have had me sick with worry." Hermione tried to rebuke Harry but found she was unable to. He just looked too peaceful.  
  
"C'mon matey, we'd better get back to the castle." Said Ron quietly.  
  
"Yeah, ok." Harry shook Cho gently.  
  
"Go 'way." She muttered sleepily. Harry raised his eyebrows at Ron and Hermione. He lifted her up in his arms.  
  
"Harry!" she shrieked in surprise, "You could have told me you were going to do that!"  
  
"I tried to." He said amused.  
  
"Yeah, well." She said sleepily. She closed her eyes and put her head onto his shoulder and he carried her up to the castle. She was quite light for a seventeen year old and rigorous quidditch training had made Harry's muscles extremely strong so he had no problem carrying her.  
  
As they got into the Entrance Hall they received some surprised but mainly amused stares at Harry and the young woman in his arms.  
  
As Harry carried Cho down the corridor towards the Ravenclaw common room Hermione gave a cry of warning. It was too late though; Harry felt something trip him up. He cursed and twisted himself round so he would land on the bottom.  
  
He fell and his head hit the stone floor, his bright light flashed in front of his eyes. He struggled to focus. When he managed to focus properly he saw Ron duelling with Malfoy and Hermione and Cho standing over him looking worried.  
  
Harry took out his wand,  
  
"Stupefy." He said pointing it at Malfoy. Malfoy fell to the floor unconscious. Harry held out his hand for Ron to pull him up.  
  
"Trust Malfoy to spoil a moment like that." Growled Ron as he pulled Harry to his feet. Harry swayed slightly and his vision was slipping in and out of focus. He took Cho's hand in his.  
  
"Are you alright?" she asked concerned.  
  
"Yeah, fine." He lied; in fact he was far from it. His vision was almost permanently out of focus and he was beginning to feel dizzy and light-headed. They got to the Ravenclaw common room and Harry kissed Cho goodnight then she was gone.  
  
Harry ran back to the Gryffindor common room. He gasped out the password to the Fat Lady. He ran through the common room and up the stairs into the fortunately deserted boys dormitory with Hermione and Ron hot on his heels. As soon as he entered he fell to his knees and let out a cry of pain.  
  
"What's wrong?" asked Ron.  
  
"What do you bloody think?" panted Harry, clutching the back of his head, "my head hurts like hell!"  
  
"Sorry." Said Ron looking highly affronted, "I didn't mean-"  
  
"No, I'm sorry," said Harry screwing his face up in pain, "It's just my head hurts so bad."  
  
"Do you want to go and see Madam Pomfrey?" asked Hermione anxiously.  
  
"No, if Malfoy finds out I've been to Madam Pomfrey he'll have a field day, could you just heal it for me?" Harry said. Hermione nodded.  
  
"Healify." To her surprise the lump faded and Harry relaxed.  
  
"Thanks." Harry said gratefully.  
  
"I thought 'healify' only worked on cuts." Ron said. Harry just shrugged.  
  
"Harry, when's the next DA meeting?" asked Hermione.  
  
"Oh yeah." Harry took out his coin. He changed the numbers, "tomorrow." Ron and Hermione nodded.  
  
"I'm going to bed, I'm still pretty tired." Harry said. Hermione nodded and stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek.  
  
"Night." She said before walking out of the door with Ron. Ron and Hermione walked down to the common room.  
  
"I'm pretty tired so I'm going off to bed aswell." Said Hermione yawning. Ron nodded turning his head to see who was entering the common room as he heard the portrait swing open. Hermione stood on tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. At the last minute Ron turned his head back and, the kiss that was meant to land on his cheek, landed on his lips instead.  
  
They both looked away blushing furiously and, without another word, dashed off to their separate dormitories.  
  
Harry heard the door open and he looked over to see Ron enter, walking in a daze, his face pale as death. Harry sat up quickly.  
  
"Ron! What's up?" Ron shook his head as if trying to clear it.  
  
"Hermione.she kissed me.on the lips." He said, sounding extremely shocked, before falling into a dead faint.  
  
Harry grabbed his wand from his bedside table; he ran over to Ron and revived him.  
  
"What happened?" Harry asked again, wanting to get the facts straight. Ron took a deep breath and began explaining, in a shaky voice, to Harry what had happened. At the end of it Harry had trouble keeping a straight face. Ron was getting so worked up about a simple mistake, that's all it was, a mistake.  
  
Harry decided that there would be time for teasing him later but now Ron needed consoling.  
  
"Ron, calm down, I know it was embarrassing but it was a mistake, mistakes happen, you just have to live with them and forget about them." Ron looked up at Harry with a faint trace of tears in his eyes. He looked down at the floor again.  
  
"That's what hurts most, that's all it was, a mistake." He muttered under his breath. Harry jumped up and staggered backwards.  
  
"Sweet Jesus! Did you just say what I heard?" Harry exclaimed, caught completely off-guard by what he heard. Ron looked up at Harry blushing deeply,  
  
"I d-didn't s-say anything!" Ron stammered. A grin began to form on Harry's face,  
  
"Yeah you did, you admitted you like Hermione!"  
  
"No I didn't!" protested Ron.  
  
"Grow up Ron, it's not that big a deal. Everybody knows you do, you're just.confirming it."  
  
"Just don't tell her!" pleaded Ron.  
  
"Why not, she likes you too, you know."  
  
"Just don't!" by now there was definitely a note of panic in his voice.  
  
"Alright, alright," Harry tried to console his friend, "I won't, I promise." Ron looked relieved. Harry smirked,  
  
"Ron and Hermione, sitting in a tree." He was then forced to dive to the right to avoid the heavy spellbook Ron had flung at his head.  
  
******  
  
Harry woke up the next morning at six and walked down to the common room. To his surprise Ginny was already up.  
  
"Hey." He greeted her, sitting down next to her on the couch.  
  
"Oh, hi." She said putting down the book she was reading, "By the way, do you know what was wrong with Hermione last night, she was in floods of tears and she seemed really embarrassed." She looked thoughtful for a minute before casting a sidelong glance at Harry, who was smirking broadly.  
  
"You know, don't you! Tell me!" Harry smirk faded.  
  
"I can't, I promised I wouldn't." he admitted. She pouted and stuck her tongue out at him. "And you called me a flirt." he said laughing.  
  
"Well," she said, "I can be a flirt when I want to." Harry laughed.  
  
"Are you sure you're just flirting." He teased, "or do you like me more than that?"  
  
"Shut up, Potter," She said yawning, "I'm going back up to bed for another hour or so." Ginny stood up and walked back up to the girl's dormitory. Harry sat in the common room for another half an hour before getting up and going back to the boy's dormitory to get dressed.  
  
As was typical for days with DA meetings at the end of them lessons passed in blur for Harry. At five to eight he was hurrying down to the Room of Requirement with Ron and Hermione.  
  
He entered and waited for the rest of them to arrive. At five past eight everyone had arrived and was looking up at him with nervous excitement.  
  
"Right, the time for games is over. We've been in a battle and experienced the horrors of it. It was nothing short of a miracle that no one was killed. Next time we will know what to expect so next time we will be better prepared, and thus we shall do better." Harry grinned, "I will no longer be treating you as a teacher treats a pupil, I will be treating you as an officer treats a soldier. I am going to train you harder than ever." As quick as a flash Harry fired a burn curse at Ron. Ron was caught by surprise and had no time to get up a shield charm. Hermione healed the burn in an instant and glared at Harry, Harry merely smirked back.  
  
"Reactions are vital; a Death Eater is not going to tell you he is going to fire a spell at you. You need to develop quicker reflexes. Split up into pairs. One person will be completely disarmed and the other will fire spells at them, one at a time only to begin with, change over every so often. You will either learn to dodge them or walk out of here in a lot of pain." Harry walked around the pairs a few of them, quidditch players mainly, had few problems with dodging spells. The Creevey brothers had the most problems but, gradually, everyone got better and better until people rarely got hit with spells. Harry looked at his watch; there was still fifteen minutes until the end.  
  
"We've still got some time left, is there anything you want to go over?" A few people wanted to go over advanced shield charms so they did so for fifteen minutes. Harry was impressed, by the end of the session people's reflexes had improved dramatically and everyone was now comfortable with the advanced shield charm.  
  
"Listen, the key to good reflexes is anticipation, always expect a spell to fly a you in battle, never be caught unaware. CONSTANT VIGILANCE" People laughed before moving towards the door, discussing this weeks meeting. For some reason they stopped just as they got to the doorway, they stood back and in walked Dumbledore, McGonagall, Moody, Lupin and Tonks. From their expressions Harry knew what was coming,  
  
"This is about the prophecy isn't it?" He said calmly. Dumbledore looked sad and there was no twinkle in his eyes.  
  
"Yes, it's about the prophecy," He sighed, "Could you come to my office? I shall explain it there."  
  
"Tell me what it is about then I will decide whether I want to come to your office." Moody let out a low growl and walked over to Harry glaring down at him.  
  
"You'll do as you're told, boy" Harry looked back at him not at all intimidated.  
  
"The prophecy was made about me, thus I shall decide what I have to do with it." Harry said calmly before looking back towards Dumbledore. Pure fury gleamed in Moody's eyes and he took out his wand. To Harry's surprise the wands of the DA rose and Ron and Hermione stepped in front of Harry. Moody's normal eye opened wide in shock,  
  
"We're really sorry, Professor," said Hermione apologetically to him, "But when it comes to the crunch our loyalty lies with Harry."  
  
"By God, Potter but have you got an army to be proud of!" he exclaimed before stepping back beside Dumbledore,  
  
"Harry, I shall tell you what I want to speak to you about. Your training has to begin, you must start your training to kill Voldemort." Gasps of horror and shock went round the DA, Harry alone looked unaffected but inside he was screaming with terror.  
  
"I'll come." He said. He turned to the DA and grinned, "I'm proud of you, you did well today."  
  
"Aren't you scared?" asked Dean Thomas. The grin vanished from Harry's face in an instant.  
  
"I'm terrified, it scares me to death that I am preparing to die or preparing to murder." He said his voice barely above a whisper. He turned and followed the adults out of the room.  
  
They reached Dumbledore's office and as soon as they entered Dumbledore spoke.  
  
"I will keep this short, you must begin your training to kill Voldemort, Moody will teach you spells and duelling techniques, Tonks will teach you healing and Lupin will teach you sword fighting. You will be given a sword, dragonskin armour and basic healing potions. Your training will begin tomorrow." Harry felt despair flood through him, this was it, there was no turning back.  
  
"I'm training to become an assassin aren't I?" Harry said. Dumbledore nodded slowly.  
  
"Yes, you are training to become an assassin." Even amongst the fear, hate and despair Harry felt he still registered it, Harry Potter, the assassin. He nodded grimly. When he spoke his voice was filled with determination instead of fear.  
  
"Harry Potter, the assassin"  
  
A/N I know what your thinking - He made us wait this long for THAT? This chapter was only a filler, I wanted to get to Harry's training so that's why it is pretty bad, also I have been in bed ill for about three days so I have not been able to get much writing done, Sorry!  
  
Thanks to all my reviewers so far especially,  
  
LogicalRaven - As usual a prompt review, that means a lot to me, mate. Thanks a lot for your ongoing support.  
  
Anime-Master7, Thanks for your review. It's nice to know that people like my story enough to keep reviewing it!  
  
Colm Murphy - You wanted me to mention you so here you go, thanks for your review. It's nice to know that my fics are appreciated; it keeps me writing them! Cheers.  
  
Rocky235 - thanks for all your reviews for both my fics. Much appreciated. 'Wotcher' is just another way of saying hi, yes learnt is an actual word, e.g. He learnt how to fight when he was fifteen.  
  
Keep reading and reviewing, 'cos I'll keep writing!  
  
Fireboy. 


	3. Training to Kill

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.  
  
The Second Darkness  
  
Training to Kill  
  
Harry woke up the next morning feeling sick, the previous nights events flooding back to him the moment he woke. His words to Dean came back to him,  
  
'Preparing to die or preparing to murder.'  
  
It took a conscious effort to get out of bed; he got dressed slowly and made his way down to the Great Hall without waiting for Ron or Hermione. He ate his breakfast slowly; as it was Saturday there were no lessons.  
  
'Preparing to die or preparing to murder.'  
  
Die or become a murderer, neither appealed to him. Harry knew he had no choice, death was no longer an option, he would have to become a murderer for, if he didn't, Good would be lost and the wizarding world would live in terror,  
  
Until the next hero came along. What if there was no other? What if Harry was their last hope? Harry smiled, it was funny, one person can change the world.  
  
If they are a hero.  
  
******  
  
Hermione waited impatiently for Harry and Ron to come down into the common room. Just as she was about to go up to the boy's dormitory she heard footsteps on the stairs, Ron's dishevelled figure came into view a second later,  
  
"Morning Hermione."  
  
"Morning Ron, where's Harry?"  
  
"He's not in bed, he must have gone down to breakfast without us." Hermione nodded. She followed Ron out of the common room; they walked down to the Great Hall in friendly silence, they spotted Harry sitting alone at the Gryffindor table. They hurried over to him and sat down opposite him,  
  
"You okay, mate?" asked Ron casually, reaching for the bacon. Harry shrugged his shoulders,  
  
"Not bad considering I'm training to be a murderer." He said sarcastically, Ron and Hermione exchanged worried glances,  
  
"Please don't worry about it too much, you don't have to do all of it alone, Ron and I will always be there for you." Ron nodded seriously,  
  
"We'll help you as much as we can." Harry looked up at them,  
  
"Do you have any idea how much danger you are putting yourselves in?"  
  
"Do you honestly think we care?" asked Hermione. Harry grinned at them,  
  
"Thanks." Hermione smiled, she leaned over the table and hugged him tight, Harry looked over her left shoulder at Ron as he hugged her back. Ron was looking at him jealously; Harry smirked at him and decided that it was time for a bit of teasing,  
  
"Jealous, Weasley?" he said smirking broadly,  
  
"No, why would I be?" he said, his face innocent as Hermione turned round to look at him, as soon as she looked away Ron glared at Harry,  
  
"You are so dead." He mouthed at him, Harry's smirk broadened,  
  
"Just playing Cupid." He mouthed back. Ron shook his head and looked down at his breakfast. By now the Great hall was full and Harry continued to laugh and joke with Hermione and Ron for another five minutes before the double doors of the Great Hall opened, presuming it to be another group of students Harry thought nothing of it but as the conversations of the other pupils died down Harry looked up, he swore under his breath, standing there were professor Dumbledore, professor McGonagall, Moody, Tonks and Lupin. Dumbledore looked straight at him,  
  
"It's time." Despair and terror filled Harry and he stood up shakily, he walked towards the adults receiving many whispers of 'good luck' from DA members, and curious looks from everyone else on the way,  
  
"Impeccable timing," he snarled at the adults as he approached, "Pick the time when the Great Hall is fullest. Very wise." Dumbledore looked apologetic,  
  
"I'm sorry Harry, now, if you would accompany us up to my office, I would be grateful." Harry shrugged and followed the adults up to Dumbledore's office, once they were in there Dumbledore began to speak.  
  
"I will waste no time in giving unnecessary preparation speeches, you will began the day with swords training with Remus, then healing with Tonks and finally duelling techniques with Moody. Any questions?" Harry shook his head dumbly.  
  
"Kindly follow Remus, he will take you to where you will begin your training." Remus smiled at Harry and led him out of Dumbledore's office,  
  
"I thought we would train outside as it is nice day." Said Remus as he led Harry down into the Entrance Hall. Remus picked up a box that was beside the doors leading out to the grounds and carried it outside. They stopped just beside the lake and Lupin opened the box, out of it he took two swords and two sets of scaly material.  
  
"I ordered you your own set of Dragonskin armour, I decided to get you the hide of the Scottish Red-Eye. It's light but not quite as strong as some of the others, however the increased mobility makes up for the lack of toughness. He picked up one of the bundles and unfolded it, it was black with a blue tinge to it and was a full length haubergeon, (A/N think of the armour the Riders of Rohan wear in Lord of the Rings.)  
  
"Put it on." Instructed Lupin, Harry slipped it over his head, Lupin was right, it was light and it clung to his chest so it wouldn't be cumbersome by being too loose, it hung to his ankles and was looser around the legs to allow Harry to run. What surprised Harry most was that it was comfortable. Lupin put his own armour on; it was the same as Harry's except it was forest green with a hint of yellow.  
  
Lupin bent down and took out two swords, both in scabbards. He handed one to Harry, the scabbard was black, with a gold lightning bolt running from the top about ten centimetres downward on one side. Slowly he reached up to the hilt, it was brown leather with gold spirals woven into it and the pommel was a silver ball about the size of a ping-pong ball. The crosspiece was flat, not angled upwards and was gold, with small, about half the size of a ping-pong ball, silver balls at either end of it. As Harry grasped the hilt he felt a rush of power and, in one fluid motion, he swept the sword from its scabbard, the blade was double edged and, when Harry looked closer at the spine, he could see the words Harry Potter etched into the spine running downwards. The sword was about eighty centimetres long, extremely light and perfectly balanced; it felt comfortable, familiar in his grip.  
  
"We had better get started," said Lupin, Harry snapped back to reality, to his horror he saw that about thirty people had gathered to watch, "Just ignore them." Harry nodded slightly.  
  
"Right, put your left foot in front of your right and hold your sword in your right hand, pointing slightly forwards, at waist height. Good. Now take one step forwards and swing your sword as if you intend to chop of my left arm." Harry did so and Lupin effortlessly parried it.  
  
"First I will teach you how to block swings at your arms and then I will teach you how to parry the most common opening move in a swordfight, a direct lunge for the heart." Harry found it extremely easy to parry a swing to his arms. Lupin was silently impressed; beginners didn't usually pick this up as quickly as Harry was.  
  
"Now I will teach you how to parry a lunge for the heart. Imagine your sword is pointing to twelve o'clock when it is pointing upwards; when I lunge move your sword down to pointing at five o'clock going anti- clockwise. That will knock my sword sideways, then move your sword back up to twelve, going clockwise, and then, to hammer my sword downwards, move your sword round to four o'clock, still going clockwise, without stopping at twelve." Lupin lunged at Harry's heart; slower then normal and again Harry blocked it without effort.  
  
Originally Lupin was not going to teach Harry counter attacks until the next lesson but he decided to try Harry on a few this lesson. To his immense surprise Harry picked them up without trouble.  
  
"Harry," He said faintly, "You are a natural, we are going to have an actual fight now as I need to see what you can do." Harry nodded and got himself into the starting position, a large amount of the pupils and some of the teachers were watching by now.  
  
Lupin immediately lunged for Harry's heart but instead of parrying the attack Harry stepped to the side and swung his sword round, stopping it just before it hit Lupin on the back. Lupin turned round surprised.  
  
"Harry, who taught you that?"  
  
"No one, it just seemed obvious." Lupin shook his head in amazement. They got into the starting position again, Lupin lunged at Harry but slightly wide of him, as Harry went to block what he thought was a lunge, Lupin turned it into a swing. It hit Harry's armour and, instead of slicing through the armour, the force of it knocked Harry off of his feet.  
  
"I thought you said this armour wasn't tough." He said as he picked himself off of the floor. Lupin smiled,  
  
"It will usually block swords, but it won't block some of the more powerful Dark spells."  
  
"I'm not going to hold out on you anymore." Said Harry.  
  
"You weren't holding out on me in the first place."  
  
"Sod off, Lupin." Lupin laughed loudly.  
  
"You sound just like Sirius and James." They got into the starting position again. This time Harry lunged, he aimed low but at the last second swung his sword upwards in a stroke that would have sliced someone open from groin to neck. Lupin jumped backwards but lost his footing and slipped over.  
  
"Told you I wasn't going to hold back." Said Harry grinning as he offered his hand to Lupin.  
  
"Should've believed you." said Lupin as he took Harry's hand. Harry pulled him up grinning broadly. After a couple more fights Lupin called a halt  
  
"Now I know what you need to learn I'll start teaching you it."  
  
An hour and a half later Harry was completely exhausted and the sweat was pouring off of him. Lupin had pushed Harry to the limit of his stamina and beyond it. He had made Harry attack, parry, counter attack over and over again till his arms ached, then he had made Harry swing the sword in controlled arcs until his arms felt like fire. Finally he had made Harry parry, thrust, parry swing until Harry couldn't even lift the sword. Literally. When Harry couldn't lift the sword Lupin had, reluctantly, stopped.  
  
"You are going to be receiving a lot of hate mail." Groaned Harry as he massaged his burning arms. Lupin grinned,  
  
"Then at least I will know I've done my job properly."  
  
Harry stood up,  
  
"I'd better get to healing. See you, Moony." He took off his armour and chucked it to Lupin, he began to hand his sword back to Lupin but Lupin pushed it back towards him.  
  
"You have to wear it says Dumbledore, all the time."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because the wards are still down and Voldemort has his own assassins and now that he can't take Hogwarts he's going to go for the next best thing, your death. All will be explained in good time. But the main thing is Dumbledore wants you to wear that sword all the time in case Voldemort sends an assassin to kill you." Harry shrugged but he had no option. Lupin handed him a black leather sword belt and Harry attached the sword to it and put the belt on.  
  
Nobody had witnessed this conversation as the crowd had dispersed a long time ago. Harry walked up to the castle slowly not looking forward to the looks of curiosity he would receive.  
  
As he predicted he entered the castle and silence fell then whispers erupted,  
  
"Potters got a sword."  
  
"What's he got a sword for?"  
  
"You should have seen him practise with it, he's really good." Ignoring them he walked up to Dumbledore's office he muttered the password and entered.  
  
"I see you have decided to wear the sword after all."  
  
"Yeah, I hadn't noticed until all those annoying whispers started following me again." Said Harry sarcastically.  
  
"I'm sorry for making you wear it." Said Dumbledore sadly. Harry sighed,  
  
"No, it's all right, sir, I'm just angry because I'm in a lot of pain, Lupin trained me really hard." Dumbledore smiled,  
  
"Then you will be relieved to hear that your next lesson will not be quite so strenuous. Tonks is waiting for you in the charms room." Harry nodded his thanks and hurried to the charms room.  
  
He was just about to turn into the charms corridor when Malfoy and his cronies stepped in front of him. He sighed in annoyance.  
  
"You've got a sword." Said Malfoy sneering, Harry raised an eyebrow,  
  
"Well spotted, very in touch with the obvious aren't you." Malfoy's grey eyes flashed dangerously,  
  
"Watch your mouth Potter."  
  
"Shut up, Malfoy." Malfoy sneered again,  
  
"You might want to do as I say, or your girlfriend might just have a little.accident." It happened in a flash, Harry smashed his fist into Malfoy's face, then he quickly sunk it into Malfoy's stomach. As Crabbe and Goyle advanced Harry jumped back and whipped out his wand,  
  
"If Cho gets hurt then you're going to be strung up." Harry growled at Malfoy.  
  
"Harry." Said a voice warningly, he looked over Crabbe's shoulder to see Tonks standing there. Harry nodded; he followed Tonks into a charms classroom. Today her hair was a long curly blonde colour.  
  
"I'll just pretend I didn't see that." Said Tonks grinning,  
  
"Do what you want but I meant what I said." Said Harry non- commitedly. Tonks sighed,  
  
"Well, we'd best get started. Today I'll just teach you how to heal minor broken bones, you already know how to heal cuts and I'll probably teach you how to heal burns aswell. Tonks conjured a dummy out of thin air. Harry heard a crack come from the dummy's left arm as Tonks muttered another spell.  
  
"Right, the incantation is 'Tatali' heal that dummy's arm." On his second attempt Harry managed to heal the dummy, the arm glowed beige for a minute and then faded.  
  
By the end of the lesson Harry could heal burns and mend minor breaks. He hurried off to lunch in the hope that Ron and Hermione would still there. Ignoring, with difficulty, the glances he was getting from the rest of the Great Hall, he spotted Ron and Hermione at the far end of the Gryffindor table. He reached them and sat down next to Hermione pulling a dish with pork chops on towards. Ron grinned at him,  
  
"Would you prefer it if I just didn't ask?" Harry nodded,  
  
"Yes, a lot."  
  
"Tough, 'cos I'm going to ask anyway," Hermione rolled her eyes at this, "What's with the sword?"  
  
"Dumbledore made me wear it."  
  
"Why?" asked Hermione, Harry considered telling them, he decided against it, it would just worry them.  
  
"Don't know, he didn't tell me." He began to eat the pork chop, he hadn't realised how hungry he was. He finished his first helping and was about to start his second when he heard the thud.thud.thud, of someone with a wooden leg approaching. Without turning round Harry sighed and put his knife and fork down slowly,  
  
"Alright, I'm coming." He said exasperated. He stood up irritably and followed Moody out of the Great Hall. Moody led him towards the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. As soon as Harry was in Moody shut the door and locked the door.  
  
"Ok Potter, I'm not going to hide it from you, in this class you are going to be taught all about the Dark spells and I will teach you defensive and offensive spells. Eventually I will teach you the killing curse. The ministry has given permission for you to be taught it. There is on condition, you must not teach any of this to the DA, Dumbledore had to pull a lot of strings to enable you to be taught this, teaching it to the DA is illegal."  
  
"Ok, I won't teach it to the DA."  
  
"Good lad, today I'm going to teach you a basic offensive spell, it is a combination of the banishing spell and slasio. It will force your enemy to fly back about twenty feet but it'll leave a nasty cut. It is an easy spell to learn but it is also a painful one so you won't find it in any textbooks. The incantation is 'banasalay' have a go, knowing your ability with fighting spells you shouldn't have many problems with this one." Harry nodded and took out his wand,  
  
"Banasalay." A red beam of light, darker then the 'stupefy' beam, shot out and hit the opposite wall. Moody nodded,  
  
"That was good. Now I'm going to teach you some of the basics of duelling, first always leave at least fifteen, preferably twenty yards between you and your enemy, this is to give you time to get a shield charm up, some Death Eaters just sprint towards you and try to overwhelm you with spells. Next always stay facing your enemy, never, ever present your back to him. Finally and this is more to do with sword fighting, always mimic your opponents feet movements, Lupin will teach you why." Harry nodded.  
  
"Now, because I disturbed you in the middle of your lunch and because it is your first lesson I will let you off early. Tomorrow I will teach you an advanced defensive spell." Moody unlocked the door and Harry left, he ran up to the Gryffindor common room. Ron and Hermione were sitting at one of the tables doing their homework, they looked up when Harry entered. They ran over to him and pulled him towards a dark corner,  
  
"Have you heard?" asked Hermione urgently.  
  
"Heard what?" he asked curiously, though the note of panic in Hermione's voice unnerved him,  
  
"Madam Pince has finished searching the library for anything that will tell them how to get the wards back up, she can't find anything." Harry swore loudly making several third years look their way.  
  
"Keep your voice down!" implored Ron.  
  
"What are they going to do now?" asked Harry.  
  
"Dumbledore mentioned something about getting the Unspeakables to check the Hogwarts records in the Department of Mysteries for anything." Harry nodded, he turned away, this wasn't good, it increased the amount of time that Voldemort had to send assassins after Harry. The thought filled him with determination, he had to train. He ran down to the lake and drew his sword. He practised all the moves Lupin had taught him until he could do them flawlessly, the sweat was pouring off of him and his arms burned as he practised all the moves he had been taught.  
  
"Do you see this Voldemort? Do you hear my blade? It is singing. Singing your death song."  
  
A/N I know this chapter is short but I have had an extremely busy week, so I have not had a lot of time for writing. I am going away this weekend or I would have written then as well, as it is I have to end it now. I know this chapter has been boring. Next chapter is where the action begins to unfold, this chapter has merely been a taste of what Harry's training will be like. Next chapter will be better I promise!  
  
LogicalRaven - Thanks for your review, I have decided to stop Harry and Ginny's flirting, you're right there is no such thing as harmless flirting, thinking about it, I leant that a long time ago aswell.  
  
Keep reading and reviewing, cos I'll keep writing!  
  
Fireboy 


	4. A New Allegiance

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.  
  
The Second Darkness  
  
Chapter 4: A New Allegiance  
  
Harry walked down to breakfast the next morning, his arms felt stiff and it was painful to move them. He had been late in getting up so Ron had obviously got up and gone down to breakfast without him.  
  
He walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Hermione. He reached for various foods and put them on his plate and started eating, Hermione looked concerned as he did so,  
  
"What's wrong with your arms?" Harry was moving his arms in slow movements,  
  
"They're stiff from the sword training yesterday." Hermione nodded sympathetically. He finished his plate in a few more seconds,  
  
"But today's a day off right? I mean, it is a Sunday after all." Said Ron.  
  
"Doesn't look like it." Said Hermione, Harry looked towards the doors of the Great Hall. Sure enough, Lupin, Moody, Tonks and Dumbledore were standing there looking in his direction. Harry sighed and stood up.  
  
"See you later." He muttered to Ron and Hermione. He walked over to where the adults were standing and followed them out into the Entrance Hall.  
  
"Same as yesterday, Harry." Said Dumbledore.  
  
"Ok, Professor." Lupin led Harry out into the grounds. They got to where they were yesterday and Lupin handed Harry his armour. Harry unbuckled his sword belt and slipped on the armour before buckling his sword belt back on.  
  
Harry positioned himself in the starting position. Lupin did likewise,  
  
"First of all we will review what we did yesterday, then I will teach you some new moves." Lupin lunged at Harry, Harry flicked Lupin's blade aside and lunged at Lupin, stopping just short of stabbing Lupin through the heart. Lupin raised an eyebrow,  
  
"I don't remember you being able to perform that as well as you just did." He said.  
  
"Last night, just after Ron and Hermione told me about Madam Pince not being able to find anything in the library about how to get the wards back up, I came down here and practised everything you taught me that day until I could do it flawlessly."  
  
"Why?" asked Lupin, Harry shook his head indicating he didn't want to talk about it,  
  
"You would have thought," continued Harry, "That there would have been something in the restricted section."  
  
"I personally never thought so." Said Lupin.  
  
"Why not?" asked Harry.  
  
"Well, which is safer, the Department of Mysteries or the restricted section of the Hogwarts library?"  
  
"Yeah, but Dumbledore was the only-one-he-ever-feared."  
  
"Think of it like this, are you afraid of Voldemort?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"But you're not afraid to fight him. Voldemort is afraid of Dumbledore but he is not afraid to fight him, he just avoids it if he can. It is easier for him to get into the Hogwarts library than it is to get into the Department of Mysteries, I will tell you now, the Unspeakables are some of the most powerful witches and wizards, they are more powerful than even the top Aurors. Getting into the Ministry of Magic and then getting past them is a hell of a lot harder than getting into a school. Even if it does have wards." Harry nodded,  
  
"That makes sense." Lupin smiled,  
  
"Anyway back to sword training." Harry began to get into the starting position but, without warning, Lupin swung the sword at Harry's head, Harry parried the blow then counter attacked with a lunge at Lupin's chest, Lupin flicked the blade aside and swung at Harry's left side. Harry blocked, swung at Lupin's head, instead of blocking it Lupin stepped back and lunged at Harry, Harry had to jump back to avoid it, but he slipped and fell over. Lupin laughed, before offering his hand to Harry.  
  
"Not bad, Harry, you weren't caught by surprise too much and when you got into the rhythm of the fight you did well."  
  
"I did get caught out by that last move, I expected you to block it rather then step back."  
  
"That move is good for catching an enemy by surprise, especially as not many people expect it." Harry laughed,  
  
"I'll have to remember that one." said Harry.  
  
"Now-" said Lupin grinning evilly. Harry's eyes widened in horror,  
  
"NO! No, Lupin don't you dare, no, I absolutely refuse to do it!"  
  
"-You will practise your sword strokes." Harry sighed and started swinging his sword in horizontal figures of eight. There were two reasons for doing this, one was that it improved his sword strokes and the other was that built up his muscles.  
  
"My arms are still hurting from yesterday." Harry complained, Lupin's grinned broadened,  
  
"Well at least we know it's working then." Harry groaned but didn't stop swinging. After fifteen minutes Harry's arms were on fire, he was sure of it, it felt like every nerve ending was burning to a cinder. Several time he pleaded with Lupin and every time Lupin shook his head although his smile faded slightly each time.  
  
Eventually Harry just dropped his sword,  
  
"I can't do it anymore, my arms hurt too much." He moaned through clenched teeth, clutching his right arm with his left hand and his left arm with his right hand. Lupin hurried forward looking extremely worried.  
  
"It's okay Harry, you don't have to. Here rub this into your arms." Lupin handed him a small pot of 'Madam Sorbridge's Super Muscle Relaxant'. Harry rubbed it into his arms and experienced instant relief,  
  
"God, you're a slave-driver." Said Harry grinning at Lupin, Lupin grinned back.  
  
"I know, but it's better that you're prepared, even if it does hurt a little."  
  
"You're starting to sound like Moody." Lupin hit Harry on the shoulder good-naturedly. Harry laughed.  
  
"Thanks for that, Harry, now, you'd better get to Tonks, she's in the charms room again." Harry nodded. He took off his armour and handed it Lupin who was just about to fold when he hesitated and then gave it back to Harry, Harry raised an eyebrow.  
  
"You'd better keep that, after all, I won't always be around to give it to you if you need it." Harry sighed and stuffed it under his robes, he didn't want to give people another reason to talk about him. He said goodbye to Lupin and ran off towards the charms corridor.  
  
To his relief he got there without incident, he opened the door and sat down on a desk. Tonks, who had long black hair with blond streaks in it today, raised her eyebrows,  
  
"Is it just me or have you put on weight since I last saw you?" Harry grinned weakly and took out the dragonskin armour.  
  
"Cool, let's have a look at it then." Harry handed it to her. Tonks looked impressed.  
  
"This is really good armour." She said studying it carefully, "Must have easily cost Lupin at least one and a half thousand galleons. What's it from?" she asked looking up at him.  
  
"Scottish Red-Eye." Tonks let out a low whistle.  
  
"God, that must've doubled the price at least. Those are really rare and really valuable, not only because they are so rare but because the armour is so light and comfortable." Harry was slightly angry.  
  
"He should've told me it cost that much, he shouldn't have even gotten me one of that quality." Tonks laughed kindly.  
  
"He only wants the best for you, we all do." She said.  
  
"I suppose, but I should still give him some money for it." Tonks laughed again.  
  
"Ah, you know he'd never take it." Harry nodded, but he was less than happy.  
  
"Anyway, we'd better get on with some healing." Suddenly a thought struck Harry,  
  
"Do you know any muscle relaxant spells?" Tonks looked surprised,  
  
"Yes, why?" Harry gestured towards his sword.  
  
"Lupin," He said forcefully, "is a slave driver." Tonks laughed,  
  
"Ok, there is one spell that will relax your muscles and that is 'musculax'. It's not too difficult so you should be able to pick it up easily." Tonks showed him the wand movement. Harry tried it on his left arm. He immediately experienced a wonderful feeling in his arm; it was like his arm was floating. There was no tension it just felt light and relaxed. Eventually the feeling faded but his arm lost the stiffness that remained even after the ointment Lupin gave him.  
  
"Excellent, thanks Tonks." She smiled at him. Tonks also taught Harry a blood-replenishing spell.  
  
Moody was already in his classroom when Harry got there. He indicated that Harry should have a seat.  
  
"Thanks to the DA you already know most, if not all of the spells that I would teach you at this level so, as I said yesterday, we will move onto a few of the more advanced defensive spells. First of all I will teach you a defensive spell that is extremely difficult to perform and it requires a lot of energy to do it. Basically it absorbs the spell and the energy your enemy put into casting that spell will be transferred to you and drained from them. As it requires so much energy it is extremely unwise to use it on spell like expelliarmus that does not require a lot of energy to cast. Using it on something like the cruciatus curse is wise, as the cruciatus curse requires a lot of energy to cast. Understand? Good. Now try it, the incantation is 'Nunctia Dranus'.  
  
Harry took out his wand, he tried and as Moody had predicted, nothing happened, he tried it again, nothing happened. On the third attempt a thin, wispy wall, pale green, shot out of his wand. Moody looked impressed.  
  
"That was good, Potter, concentrate on the spell now, nothing else, concentrate hard on the spell." Harry did as he said; he focused his mind on the spell and tried it.  
  
Harry suddenly felt extremely weak, but he managed to see a forest green wall appear in front of him, he felt very tired and swayed violently, Moody hurried forward ready to catch him if he fell, but Harry stayed upright. He felt light-headed and it was difficult to focus on anything.  
  
He felt some warm liquid being poured down his throat and the world suddenly swam back into view and the light-headed feeling disappeared. Moody's face came back into focus. He was holding a small vial.  
  
"Excellent, Potter, that was extraordinary. Not many wizards would be able to perform a full Dranus on their fourth attempt. Do you reckon you could do it again?" Harry nodded.  
  
"This time I will perform the cruciatus curse and it is vital that you block it. Understand?" Harry nodded again, "Good, now, one...two...three! Crucio!" At the same time Harry cast the Dranus spell, the wall appeared in front of him but he only felt weak for a second before a surge of strength surge through, making him feel stronger and more energetic than before. He looked up to see Moody take a drink of potion that was electric blue.  
  
"What's that?" asked Harry when Moody had finished drinking it.  
  
"Strength replenishing potion. Now, that was excellent, Potter I had expected it to take two or three lessons before you got the hang of it. Well done. Dumbledore will let you know when your next lesson is." Harry said goodbye to Moody and went to find Ron and Hermione.  
  
The next day Harry was sitting in Potions when Lupin came bursting in.  
  
"You knock before you enter a professors classroom, Lupin." Said Snape quickly, Harry didn't like the way he put emphasis on the word 'professors.'  
  
"Sorry Snivellus," said Lupin coldly, "I'll remember that if I ever have to enter your greasy classroom again." Many of the students exchanged looks of glee. They loved seeing Snape get put down. Lupin turned and looked around the classroom. Eventually his gaze landed on Harry.  
  
"Dumbledore would like to see you, Harry." Harry nodded and stood up.  
  
"Potter has another half an hour of potions to complete." Said Snape immediately.  
  
"Well, Unfortunately for you Snivellus, Dumbledore's wishes come before yours." And without another word Lupin turned and led Harry out of the dungeon.  
  
"Why does Dumbledore want to see me?" asked Harry.  
  
"You'll see." Harry knew he wasn't going to get any information so he stayed silent. They approached the stone gargoyles and Lupin gave the password and they walked up into Dumbledore's office. Inside were some of the most prominent members of the Order. Shacklebolt, Tonks, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Molly and Arthur Weasley, Mundungus Fletcher, Emmeline Vance and a few others Harry didn't recognise. All the teachers were there but there were also three creatures, about four foot high, all broad and muscular wearing chainmail with heavy battle axes at their sides and shield slung over their backs. With a jolt of surprise Harry realised that they were Goblins.  
  
Dumbledore stood up to speak.  
  
"These are the head of three Goblin Clans who are here to negotiate an alliance between the Order of the Phoenix and the Goblin Clans Morger, Ragnon and Fenwold. This is Lenwok, leader of the Goblin Clan Morger. This is Ragnok leader of the Goblin Clan Ragnon. This is Karvuk leader of the Goblin Clan Fenwold." With the introductions over the Goblins wasted no time in getting down to business. When they spoke their English was fluent but heavily accented so it was sometimes hard to understand what they were saying.  
  
"We are prepared to enter an allegiance with the Order of the Phoenix. There are no conditions. We are doing this because You-Know-Who has been murdering more Goblin families." Said Ragnok. Dumbledore nodded sympathetically.  
  
"We have no conditions on the forming of this alliance. But we do have one query. Who commands?" Ragnok, who had become the spokesman for the Goblins, did not hesitate in answering.  
  
"My troops are your troops and your troops are my troops." Dumbledore nodded in agreement.  
  
"That's a good idea."  
  
"Are we agreed?" asked the Goblin, Ragnok.  
  
"We are agreed." Said Dumbledore. From the belt around his waist Ragnok drew a beautifully crafted knife. Placing the edge on the palm of his hand Ragnok swept the blade across. He clenched his fist and squeezed the blood out.  
  
"By my blood I swear to uphold and support the alliance between the Goblin Clans Ragnon, Morger, Fenwold and their new allies the Order of the Phoenix." He then handed the knife to Dumbledore. Dumbledore took the knife and he cut his palm.  
  
"By my blood I swear to uphold and support the alliance between the Order of the Phoenix and their new allies the Goblin Clans Ragnon, Morger and Fenwold." Dumbledore handed the knife back to the Goblin.  
  
"Does anyone oppose this alliance?" asked Ragnok. No one spoke, "then allies we are and allies we shall remain." A cheer went up in the room and people starting talking in loud voices. Harry turned to Lupin.  
  
"How many are there in a Goblin Clan?"  
  
"About six thousand, of which a third will be men so we know have six thousand Goblin fighters, two thousand from each folk. Ragnon especially is renown for producing able and strong warriors." Harry let out a low whistle.  
  
"That's got to be good for us."  
  
"It is, very good. Goblin skin is like giant skin, very hard to penetrate with spells and they are also extremely famous for their blacksmith work."  
  
"Why did Dumbledore want me here?"  
  
"Basically, leaders of people who fight for one of the sides who are entering the alliance must be present, as witnesses."  
  
"Oh ok." Harry turned and left after seeing other people. He hurried back to the common room where, as he predicted, Ron and Hermione were anxiously waiting for him to return. As soon as they saw him enter they jumped and hurried over to him. He beckoned them over into a corner,  
  
"Well?" asked Hermione impatiently. Harry grinned at them both  
  
"The Order of the Phoenix has three new allies. Goblin Clans." Hermione's hand flew to her mouth and Ron's eyes widened in shock.  
  
"What?" breathed Hermione.  
  
"Three Goblin Clans, Ragnon, Morger and Fenwold have allied themselves with the Order. In each Clan there are about six thousand Goblins, about a third of the Clan are males. So we now have six thousand Goblin warriors baying for Voldemort's blood."  
  
"Why have they joined us? Goblins are meant to be fiercely independent!" asked Ron incredulously.  
  
"Voldemort's been murdering Goblins from those Clans and although the Goblins aren't on the best of terms with Dumbledore and the Order well, you know, my enemy's enemy is my friend."  
  
"If it's going to come down to a final battle having Goblins on our side is really going to help." Said Hermione earnestly. Harry nodded.  
  
"I'm going to see Cho, I'll see you guys later." Said Harry turning to leave. He walked out of the common room. He headed up to the owlrey. When he got there he quickly scribbled a note to Cho.  
  
My Darling Cho,  
  
Meet me by the room of requirement. I haven't seen you for ages.  
  
All my love,  
  
Harry -  
  
He conjured up a red rose and attached it to the note. He looked for Hedwig. She was up on one of the rafters. As soon as she saw him she flew down and landed on his shoulder. He stroked her for a minute before giving her the note.  
  
"This is for Cho, ok?" She hooted softly before flying out of the window.  
  
******  
  
Cho was sitting in the Ravenclaw common room talking to some of her friends when they heard a tapping on the window. She looked up,  
  
"Hedwig!" she exclaimed. She jumped and ran to the window and opened it. Hedwig gave her the note before flying off. She let out a tiny 'oh' of surprise.  
  
"What?" asked her friends, Cho turned round smiling and held up the rose. One of her friends smiled,  
  
"No prizes for guessing who that's from." Cho tuck her tongue out at her and looked down at the note. She read it quickly, her smile widening.  
  
"I've got to go, he wants to see me." She said dreamily before running out of the common room. Her friends smiled at her retreating back.  
  
"She's starting to act like Luna Lovegood." One of them said grinning broadly. Another hit her on the arm.  
  
"Don't be mean! I think it's sweet."  
  
"Yeah," agreed another, "Who'd have thought that Harry Potter would be so romantic."  
  
******  
  
Harry waited impatiently by the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. He heard approaching footsteps and looked up expectantly, his face broke into a huge grin as he saw Cho come round the corner. She ran up and threw her arms around his neck.  
  
"That was so sweet." She said, holding up the rose. Harry grinned.  
  
"I'm glad you liked it."  
  
"I loved it." He kissed her tenderly on the cheek.  
  
"Come on, let's go for a walk." Cho nodded and put her hand in his. He led her down into the grounds. They sat by the lake and Cho put her head on his shoulder.  
  
"I love you so much." He said smiling down at her.  
  
"I love you too." She murmured sleepily. He stroked her hair softly. Soon she fell asleep.  
  
"I love you Cho, more than life itself. I love you so much, I just want to lie next to you every night that I go to sleep, wake up next to you every morning. And yet a new era of darkness is upon us and it scares me, it scares me because I might be leading you to your death. I love you too much to let you go and yet I think I have to."  
  
A/N I have finally managed to get this chapter uploaded. I am so sorry that it is late. Next chapter we find out what Voldemort is up to.  
  
LogicalRaven – Thanks a lot for the review. I look forward to receiving them.  
  
Anime-Master7 – I am still not sure about the Ron/Hermione but it probably will be in the end, though it might not be.  
  
Colm – The tables crashing is definitely better, Death Eaters using plates to kill people is just too out of character. By the way your e-mail address doesn't work. I tried to send you an e-mail about the fight scene but 'kealkillfreeserve.co.uk' doesn't exist.  
  
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing.  
  
Fireboy 


	5. Voldemort's Plan

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.  
  
The Second Darkness.  
  
Chapter 5: Voldemort's Plan.  
  
Deep in the northernmost Highlands of Scotland, amongst the rugged mountains and misty glens lay a ruined castle, perched high upon a heather coated hill overlooking one of the many lochs in the area. Hidden by large, jagged snow-covered mountains this castle hid the one of the greatest evils of all time alongside Salazar Slytherin.  
  
At least it looked ruined to the few muggles who saw it. It actually looked as if it had been built only yesterday, apart from the massive cobwebs and the army of spiders and rodents that dwelled within its walls.  
  
Spiders and rodents weren't the only inhabitants. Lord Voldemort and his closest Death Eaters hid here. From here Voldemort ordered the killings and torturing that terrified the wizarding world. From here he brewed his evil plans and ordered the recruitment of more Death Eaters. From here he gathered his army. But there was something more disturbing,  
  
Legend has it that this was the ancient home of Salazar Slytherin.  
  
And who knows what evil he hid in this castle. Evil waiting to be discovered. Evil waiting to be unleashed once more.  
  
******  
  
Lord Voldemort sat in a high backed wooden throne at the back of a large room in the centre of the castle. The few torches around the walls gave a little light and no warmth. His closest Death Eaters lined the walls on either side of the room, trying to get as close to the torches as is possible. Apart from a faded red rug leading up to the throne and a long wooden table on the left hand side of the room there was little furniture. There were a few shields, swords and axes hanging on the walls but they were old and faded and the swords and axes had lost their shine centuries ago.  
  
Voldemort surveyed the Death Eaters standing next the walls. Less then a month ago fifty of his best and most loyal men had stood here, now less then half remained. What angered him most was that Lucius Malfoy had died. Died in agony, weeping like a baby.  
  
What's more was that he was growing impatient.  
  
"He's had enough time, he should have found it by now." He mused to himself.  
  
"More than a month, my lord." Agreed what looked to be a small bundle of robes heaped in an untidy pile by Voldemort's feet, but on closer inspection turned out to be a small mouse-like man.  
"Nobody asked for your opinion, Wormtail." said Voldemort coldly.  
  
"My apologies, my lord." Voldemort did not reply.  
  
"Fetch my librarian." Wormtail leaped to his feet and ran off. Five minutes later he returned with a tiny hunchbacked man, hair was white and he looked to be about eighty years old. He was clutching an old leather- covered book protectively to his chest.  
  
"Well?" demanded Voldemort coldly, "Have you found it yet?" The old man looked fearfully into the slit like eyes and hurriedly looked down at the floor,  
  
"I believe I have, my lord, I came across it this morning and I was just double checking it when Wormtail came in." The man paused,  
  
"Well? What is it?" The old man carefully opened the book and hurried up to Voldemort. He held the book out and Voldemort quickly read it.  
  
"Good, well done. How long will it take?"  
  
"About three months, master." Voldemort looked thoughtful,  
  
"Could it be done any quicker?"  
  
"Not without weakening the effects, my liege, as you no doubt see it is a very complicated potion, what's more we have to start it tomorrow, the full moon of January, otherwise, if we miss it, the position of the planets required will not come round for another decade." Voldemort nodded.  
  
"Have we all the ingredients?" The old man hesitated,  
  
"All apart from one, my lord."  
  
"Which one is that?" demanded Voldemort.  
  
"The blood of a hero, but that doesn't need to be added till the very end so we have some time to get that." The old man said hastily, Voldemort narrowed his eyes and leant back.  
  
"The blood of a hero?"  
  
"Harry Potter, my liege." The old man said fearfully. Voldemort stood up furious.  
  
"And no other can be used?" he said, the old man cowered back,  
  
"No, my lord." Voldemort looked around,  
  
"Well? What are you waiting for? Organise plans, send assassins, Death Eaters, anyone, but I want him back here alive!" shrieked Voldemort. The Death Eaters bowed low and hurried out of he room. Voldemort turned on the librarian, the old man cowered back even further,  
  
"You have done well, you shall be rewarded for this work." Voldemort thought for a minute then waved his wand over the old man's back, the lump in his back disappeared and the man stood up straight, his eyes widening in wonder.  
  
The old man fell to his knees and crawled towards Voldemort. He kissed the hem of his robes murmuring,  
  
"Thank you my lord, thank you so much, thank you, thank you." Before standing up and hurrying out of the room. Voldemort stood alone in the centre of the room, he let out a high-pitched, burst of insane laughter.  
  
"Your days are numbered Dumbledore, for when I drink the Potion of Eternal Life I shall be invincible!" He walked out of the room still laughing.  
  
Hidden in the shadows, a single pair of eyes widened.  
  
******  
  
"I'm telling you, Albus, I heard it with my own ears!" Exclaimed Snape, banging his fist on the headmaster's desk.  
  
"I believe you Severus it's just that I need to know all of the facts before I make a decision." Snape nodded,  
  
"That's not the worst of it though, to complete the potion they need Potter's blood," collective gasps went round the room but Snape carried on relentlessly, "And he's not hanging around in trying to get it, nor is he sparing any men."  
  
"How is the search for the information concerning the wards going?" asked Emmeline Vance from the back of the room.  
  
"The Unspeakables have barely touched the surface of the information about Hogwarts they have down there." Dumbledore said shortly. Muttering broke out in the room. Dumbledore politely waited for it to subside before continuing,  
  
"We need a guard for Harry, now we don't have any members in the Order that we can afford to spare-" At this one of the Goblins stepped forward, it was Ragnok.  
  
"We would be quite happy to provide a guard for him." Remus Lupin stepped forward,  
  
"Thank you for your kind offer but Harry wouldn't put up with a guard, be it human or Goblin." Ragnok raised his eyebrows,  
  
"Not even if he was forced to?" Lupin smiled wryly,  
  
"He would just give them the slip, anyway is a guard really necessary? The DA are fiercely loyal to him. They wouldn't let any harm come to him." Dumbledore nodded.  
  
"You're right, Harry would just give a guard the slip, he's just like his father or Sirius, too independent. If he won't put up guard then precautions will have to be taken to minimise the danger he is in. Anyway back to the original problem, what are we going to do about Voldemort's plan?"  
  
******  
  
The Gryffindor common room was completely deserted apart from Harry and Ginny who were sitting on one of the couches in the talking; Ron and Hermione had gone of to the library to do some homework.  
  
"I mean, it's so obvious that they like each other so why won't they just admit it to each other?" asked Ginny.  
  
"I wish I knew."  
  
"I still want to know why Hermione was all embarrassed and was crying the other night. She still won't tell me." Harry grinned. Ginny hit him on the arm, "Tell me!" she demanded, hitting him again.  
  
"Ok, ok." Gasped Harry between fits of laughter. He quickly told her about Hermione kissing Ron on the lips accidentally. Ginny looked at him open mouthed.  
  
"She got worked up over that!"  
  
"Yep, and that's not the best bit. I was in our room with Ron trying to reassure him and I told him it didn't matter and you know what he said? He said 'That's what hurts most, that's all it was, a mistake.'" Ginny looked even more surprised,  
  
"He didn't!"  
  
"He did."  
  
"Whoa! We really have to get them together, now that Ron's admitted he likes her."  
  
"Which we knew anyway."  
  
"Yeah, but it makes it easier now that Ron's admitted it."  
  
"True." At that point the portrait hole swung open and Ron and Hermione walked in talking animatedly. Harry and Ginny smirked at them both. Ron looked at Harry warily, he knew that smirk of his and didn't like it one bit.  
  
"What've you two been talking about?" he asked cautiously.  
  
"How much you two fancy each other." Said Harry, still smirking. Ginny burst out laughing.  
  
"I don't fancy her!" protested Ron.  
  
"That's not what you said the other night, after she 'accidentally' kissed you on the lips, remember?" Asked Harry innocently. Ginny howled with laughter.  
  
"What did you say?" Hermione asked Ron curiously.  
  
"I didn't say anything, he's making it up" Ron said desperately.  
  
"Don't believe him. He said, when I tried to reassure him by telling him it was only a mistake, he said 'That's what hurts most, that's all it was, a mistake.'" Said Harry confidently, still smirking. Ron turned on Harry looking furious, he started walking towards him slowly, Harry's smirk faded slightly and he started backing away from him,  
  
"Easy Ron, we can talk about this." Ron gave a roar of rage and leaped towards Harry, Harry jumped to the side, Ron leaped at him again and this time Harry wasn't quick enough, Ron rugby tackled him to the floor and started pummelling every bit of Harry he could reach. Eventually Harry managed to push him off. Gingerly, Harry stood up; he tasted blood in his mouth, he put his fingertips to his lips and then looked at them. There was blood on them.  
  
"I guess I deserved that." He said calmly. Ron shot him a venomous glare before running up to the boy's dormitory. Hermione looked from Harry to Ginny and then back again.  
  
"You weren't lying then?"  
  
"No." said Harry, putting his fingers to his lips again. Hermione then ran up to the girl's dormitory.  
  
"That could've gone better." Harry said to Ginny a minute later.  
  
"Never mind," she said bracingly, "At least Hermione's aware of Ron's feelings for her." Harry nodded in agreement,  
  
"I'll be lucky if he ever talks to me again."  
  
"He'll get over it and he will thank you for it in the end." She said consolingly.  
  
"What would I do without you, Gin?"  
  
"Go insane?" she suggested, Harry laughed and gave her a hug before heading up to the boy's dormitory to see if Ron was prepared to talk about it, leaving an incredibly pleased Ginny in the common room.  
  
He entered the dormitory to see Ron sitting on his bed staring blankly ahead, Harry almost felt sorry for him; he looked so pathetic, so...lost. The only thing that stopped Harry feeling sorry for him was that Harry knew how unpredictable Ron could be.  
  
"You'll thank me in the end." He said. Ron looked up.  
  
"What for? For ruining my friendship with Hermione?" All this was said without spite, Ron said it sadly, as if he was stating a simple fact but he didn't want to accept it. Now Harry did feel bad. He felt really sorry for him. He sat down next to him on the bed.  
  
"Listen, you didn't see Hermione's reaction, she didn't looked disgusted or...or repulsed or anything like that." Ron perked up slightly,  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, she looked surprised and sort of embarrassed and then she ran up to her room but she definitely didn't look disgusted." Ron nodded.  
  
"If you don't mind I would like to be alone now." Harry nodded, squeezed Ron's shoulder reassuringly and walked slowly down to the common room. As soon as she saw him Ginny's face became concerned,  
  
"How is he?"  
  
"He looks so pathetic, so lost, like he doesn't know what to do and just wants to hide." Ginny nodded,  
  
"I went up to speak to Hermione."  
  
"Oh yeah? How much does she hate me?" Ginny gave a weak smile,  
  
"Not at all, but I asked whether she fancied Ron and she admitted she did but she refuses to believe that you were telling the truth and nothing I said would change her mind. She thinks it's all some elaborate joke."  
  
"She can't really think that I would play a joke that involved me getting beaten to a pulp by a homicidal, psycho redhead!" exclaimed Harry angrily. Ginny shrugged,  
  
"I guess she does."  
  
"How blind can two people be?" He said furiously. Ginny gave another weak smile.  
  
"Extremely, by the looks of it." Before Harry could reply the portrait and Lupin stepped in.  
  
"Harry, Dumbledore wants to see you." He said. Harry sighed and nodded,  
  
"See you." He said to Ginny, giving her a hug.  
  
"Bye." Harry followed Lupin out of the common room and along the corridor to Dumbledore's office.  
  
"What does he want to see me about?" Lupin looked grim,  
  
"You'll find out and you're not going to like it." They reached the headmaster's office and Lupin gave the password. They walked up the steps; in the room were the three Goblins, most of the teachers and some Order members. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk looking grave.  
  
"Harry, certain precautions need to be imposed on you for your own protection." Harry nodded slowly, he didn't like where this was going.  
  
"One, you will now wear your dragon skin armour instead of your school robes-"  
  
"What!" spluttered Harry, "Do you realise how many looks I get from just wearing the sword? I don't need any more of those looks."  
  
"The other option," said Dumbledore as if he had never been interrupted, "is that you be escorted by a guard wherever you go." Harry gulped,  
  
"I'll take the armour."  
  
"The next rule is that you do not leave the castle under any circumstances."  
  
"No." said Harry forcefully, "I don't know if you've realised it but I've got a girlfriend and I'm not cutting down my private time with her just because you don't want ickle Harry to get hurt. You can attempt to force a guard on me but I'll just give them the slip. Cho comes first, you lot come second." Lupin grinned to himself this was exactly what he had expected Harry to say. Dumbledore spread his hands on his desk; he could see that Harry would not obey that rule at all.  
  
"Ok. I will not force you to stay inside the castle. But you are not to leave the grounds." Dumbledore's tone showed that that was final. Harry nodded.  
  
"You may go now." Said Dumbledore. Harry nodded and turned round. He strode out of his office and towards the Gryffindor common room. He snapped the password at the fat lady and entered the common room. He flung himself down on one of the couches next to Ginny. She looked up from the book she was reading.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked seeing his angry expression.  
  
"I have to wear my armour instead of my school robes now." Ginny nodded sympathetically.  
  
"He also tried to make me stay inside the castle all the time. But I refused, as I didn't want my private time with Cho being cut down. Ginny nodded again.  
  
"It would be unfair to make you stop spending time with Cho."  
  
"Has either Ron or Hermione come down yet?" Ginny shook her head sadly,  
  
"I'm starting to get quite worried about them." She admitted.  
  
"We shouldn't have got involved." Said Harry.  
  
"We had to, otherwise they would have gone through life being to scared to admit they loved each other no matter how many times people told them how obvious it was." She said forcefully. Harry nodded.  
  
"You're right." He said. He stood up,  
  
"I'm going for a walk, you coming?" he said to her.  
  
"Yeah." She said, standing up and following him out of the portrait hole."  
  
A/N Ok, I know that this chapter has been very Harry, Ginny orientated so I want to make one thing clear. Neither this fic nor the next one will be Harry/Ginny. There are good friends in my fics and that is how they shall remain.  
  
LogicalRaven – Thanks for the review.  
  
Charmed-103 – Thanks for the review. You won't find out who Harry saw in his vision until the last chapter of the trilogy, sorry!  
  
Colm – Thanks for the review, if you have anymore questions don't hesitate to ask.  
Rocky235 – Thanks for the review, could you just let me know how Cho's character is a bit over the top? Cheers.  
  
Keep reading and reviewing, 'cos I'll keep writing.  
  
Fireboy. 


	6. The Assassins' Duel

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.  
  
The Second Darkness.  
  
Chapter 6: The Assassins' Duel.  
  
Harry and Ginny spent the next hour walking around Hogwarts' grounds talking about anything that sprung to mind. Eventually they returned to the castle and headed into the Great Hall for dinner.  
  
"Oh Jesus!" swore Ginny annoyed,  
  
"What?" asked Harry.  
  
"Look at either end of the Gryffindor table." Harry looked, and at the end furthest away from the door sat Ron with Seamus and Dean and at the end closest to the door sat Hermione with Parvati and Lavender.  
  
"Great, now they're avoiding each other!"  
  
"So I go sit with Hermione, you go sit with Ron?" Harry thought about this for a minute before replying.  
  
"No, I've had enough of trying to make them see sense for one day. We'll sit together." Ginny nodded and followed Harry over to a place in the middle. They sat down opposite each other and ate in companionable silence.  
  
They talked for a few minutes after they'd finished eating before Harry saw Cho stand up and leave the Great Hall with a group of her friends.  
  
"Listen Ginny, I've had a really great day with you but is it all alright if I go spend some time with Cho?"  
  
"Of course, I'll see you later." Harry turned around and started to walk away. "Oh and Harry," Harry turned around again, "I've had a really great day with you too." Harry smiled at her and walked out of the Great Hall.  
  
He caught up with Cho and her friends just before the marble staircase. He quietly approached Cho, who had her back to him, and put his hands over her eyes.  
  
"Guess who?" He asked, he winked at her friends who began to giggle.  
  
"Ooh, could it be the most handsome, charming, fantastic boy to ever grace the earth." Cho's friends' giggles subsided and smiles took their place.  
  
"It could." Cho turned round and gave Harry a quick kiss. One of her friends pretended to vomit and another, without changing her expression, kicked the other on the leg.  
  
"I'll see you guys later." Cho said to her friends before taking Harry's hand and leading him towards the lake. As soon as she was gone the friend who had pretended to gag turned angrily towards the girl who kicked her.  
  
"Why'd you kick me, Sophia?" Sophia rolled her eyes.  
  
"Take a wild guess." When her friend continued to look blank Sophia patiently explained it to her, "Because you pretended to throw up, they've both had rough lives recently, they deserve a bit of happiness. Not you taking the mickey out of their love lives." Her friend shrugged and followed Sophia and the rest of them towards the Ravenclaw common room.  
  
******  
  
The sun was setting and the sky was painted purple, orange, yellow, pink. The colours were cast over the lake and the rippled water reflected them gave off the impression of a second sky. The long shadows cast by the trees of the forbidden forest bordered the edge of the water like a picture frame. Everything was still and peaceful, the world seemed to be holding its breath for in these troubled, war-threatened times peacefulness was rare, and was to be treasured.  
  
However, there was not total peace for the Boy-Who-Lived was trying to make one of the hardest decisions of his life.  
  
Forget Voldemort, love is scarier.  
  
******  
  
Cho and Harry sat against the boulder by the lake that they usually sat by. Harry held the young women in his arms and half-heartedly listened to her talk about quidditch. His troubled thoughts were interrupted by Cho's voice,  
  
"Harry, Harry?"  
  
"What-? Oh, sorry Cho, what were you saying?" Cho lifted her head off his shoulder and looked at him,  
  
"You haven't been listening to a word I've said have you?" Harry dropped his eyes.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Harry, what's wrong?" she asked concerned. Harry looked up at her, tears brimming in his eyes,  
  
"If I were to tell you it would break your heart and mine." Cho squeezed Harry's hand.  
  
"Tell me."  
  
"No, I need to think first." Harry leaned over and kissed her gently, "Don't worry, I still love you." Cho was reassured slightly but not completely. Harry kissed her tenderly again before standing up and walking back to the castle leaving an extremely worried Cho.  
He gave the password to the Fat Lady and climbed into the common room. Ron was involved in a half-hearted game of chess with Seamus and didn't look up when Harry called his name.  
  
Hermione on the other hand was sitting at a table by the window with a book in front of her, her eyes never moving. Harry moved towards her. As soon as she saw him coming she stood up and tried to walk past him, her eyes on the floor.  
  
Harry took her by the shoulders and sat her down on a seat at the table and then he sat opposite her.  
  
"You think I'm lying don't you." It was a question, it was a statement. For some reason it came out harsher than it was meant to. Hermione looked up fearfully and then looked down again.  
  
"About what?" asked Hermione shakily, trying to bluff her way out.  
  
"You know what." Said Harry shortly  
  
"Yes." She said in a small voice.  
  
"Why would I lie about a thing like that?" Harry asked incredulously. Hermione shrugged slightly still staring at the table,  
  
"For a joke?"  
  
"When have I ever played a practical joke on you two?" Hermione shrugged again,  
  
"You haven't, but that doesn't mean you never will." Harry groaned in frustration. The Portrait Hole swung open and Ginny and a group of her friends climbed in laughing loudly.  
  
"Ginny," called Harry loudly, every head in the crowded common room looked up and the noise died down, "Try and make Hermione and Ron realise that we're not lying and that they both fancy each other, 'cos I've given up." Hermione and Ron looked horrified and ran up to their dormitories. Harry strode angrily out of the common room. Ginny sighed and followed him. She caught up with him just outside of the Room of Requirement.  
  
"That was actually pretty cheap." She said fairly,  
  
"Yeah, well," said Harry angrily, he was far more angry then he needed to be and he knew it but he couldn't do anything about it, "Maybe it will knock some sense into them and make them realise that we aren't lying."  
  
"Or maybe it will make them not talk to you for the rest of the month."  
  
"Then at least that way they won't be able to annoy the hell out of me by being so goddamn BLIND!" Ginny looked completely unaffected by his sudden outburst.  
  
"At least it won't be for much longer."  
  
"What d'you mean?"  
  
"They can't ignore it for much longer, they no longer think that the other doesn't fancy them. They'll start to do something about it soon. Definitely. Probably. Hopefully." Seeing Harry's sceptical look she sighed,  
  
"Ok, maybe they will need a few more nudges in the right direction." Harry nodded in agreement.  
  
"They will." He said. Harry searched around for a different topic of conversation.  
  
"How's things with Dean?" he asked.  
  
"Finished, mutual decision, we just decided that there was less pressure on us when we were friends so we decided we wanted to be just friends." Harry nodded. Ginny looked at her watch.  
  
"C'mon, we'd best be getting back now." They walked back to the common room. They climbed through the Portrait Hole. At the bottom of the two sets of steps leading up to the dormitories they stopped.  
  
"I've had a really great day, Harry." Ginny said.  
  
"Me too." Harry gave her a hug and planted a swift kiss on her cheek before climbing the stairs to the boy's dormitory. He entered the room and saw that Ron was already asleep. On Harry's pillow however was a folded piece of parchment. Harry picked it up and read it quickly.  
  
As of the moment you read this we are no longer friends.  
  
Ronald Weasley.  
  
Far from making him upset the note made Harry smile, he looked over to Ron's sleeping form.  
  
"You'll thank me for this someday." Harry then changed into his pyjamas and climbed into bed. Within minutes he was fast asleep.  
  
Harry woke up the next morning feeling slightly refreshed. He got up and started to pull on his school robes when he remembered. Sighing deeply he took of his robes and pulled his armour over his head. Picking up his sword belt with his sword attached he put it on and pulled it tight. Shoving his wand in the belt aswell he walked down to the common room.  
  
When he got down there he saw that Ginny was sitting on one of the couches reading a book. When she saw him she raised her eyebrows and grinned at him,  
  
"Don't you look the hero." Harry rolled his eyes,  
  
"Shut it, Ginny, you coming down to breakfast?"  
  
"Yeah ok." Ginny dog-eared the page she was reading, put the book down on the table next to the couch and followed Harry out of the common room  
  
They reached the doors of the Great Hall and Harry hesitated.  
  
"It'll be fine, come on." Said Ginny bracingly. Harry nodded.  
  
"I hope so." He said, nerves making his voice tremor slightly. He breathed deeply once and then pushed open one of the doors. The moment he stepped through the door conversation ceased. Harry tried to fight down the urge to sprint from the room. Breathing deeply he slowly began walking towards the Gryffindor table trying to ignore all the looks of curiosity he was receiving.  
  
He sat down between Dean and Seamus and Ginny sat opposite. Dean raised his eyebrows,  
  
"I suppose you don't want me to ask..."  
  
"No, but I get the feeling you're going to anyway." Dean grinned,  
  
"What's with the armour?" Harry sighed,  
  
"Dumbledore's orders. Can't say anything else." Dean nodded, satisfied with that answer. Harry ate his breakfast as quickly as possible and left the Great Hall.  
  
Harry's day was hell. Even though he kept his head down and got on with his work quietly he could feel everybody's eyes on him. The one small mercy was that he didn't have potions or any classes with the Slytherins. Harry was extremely grateful when his final lesson, transfiguration, ended. He immediately ran up to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
When he arrived up there he saw Ginny, Ron and Hermione sitting at a table in the corner, although Ron and Hermione looked less than happy at being made to be near each other. The moment Harry stepped through the Portrait Hole Ginny beckoned him over. Ron glared at him as he approached and Harry merely smirked back.  
  
"Sit down, Harry." Ordered Ginny. By the tone of her voice Harry could tell that she was in no mood to argue. Harry obediently did as she said.  
  
"Listen," She said to Ron and Hermione, "I'm getting pretty sick, and Harry is as well, of you two avoiding each other as if your lives depended on it. It's getting annoying, if all you want is to be friends then could you just be friends from now on?" Harry's smirk grew broader,  
  
"Yeah, all you have to do is kiss and make up." Ginny turned and glared at him,  
  
"Your not helping..." she muttered angrily so that only he could hear. Harry grinned at her before turning to Ron and Hermione.  
  
"Seriously though," he said, his grin fading, "What's so difficult? You've both admitted you like each other so what's the problem? Why don't you just tell each other? This isn't some joke or...or some conspiracy against one of you. So just tell each other for God's sake!" When neither Ron or Hermione made a move or said anything Harry groaned,  
  
"Ok, time for a little blackmail, and believe me this is for your benefit not mine," he said to them firmly, "Here's the deal, the longer you take to start going out with each other the more I embarrass you, what I did the other day was only a taster, eventually I'll start embarrassing you in front of whole classes and, if need be, I'll embarrass you in front of the whole school." Ron and Hermione looked terrified. Feeling that his point had been well and truly made he stood up and went to get his homework.  
  
******  
  
Wormtail sprinted as fast as he could to the main hall. He threw open the door and then threw himself at Voldemort's feet.  
  
"What?" asked Voldemort coldly.  
  
"An assassin is ready to be sent to Hogwarts." Voldemort nodded.  
  
"Good, send him right away." Wormtail bowed low.  
  
"Of course, my lord." He turned to leave,  
  
"Wormtail."  
  
"My lord?"  
  
"Make sure the assassin does not fail."  
  
"Of course, master." Wormtail turned and ran out of the room  
  
******  
  
Ron and Hermione seemed to do as Ginny requested for the four of them and Cho were sitting outside in the grounds enjoying one of the few days of sunshine in February.  
  
Ron and Hermione looked less than happy at being near to each other. But what infuriated Harry most was that he would catch them stealing little glances at each other when they thought no one else was looking. He finally mentioned something when he caught them for the sixth time.  
  
"You're both about a subtle as a sledgehammer." They looked up at him in surprise and blushed when they realised what he was talking about.  
  
"Listen, could you two just start going out with each other 'cos I'm really missing my best friends now that you're avoiding me at all costs." Harry said ruefully. Hermione opened her mouth to say something when they heard the distinct 'crack' of someone Apparating in the distance. Suddenly they heard terrified screams,  
  
They turned their heads and they saw a lone Death Eater running towards. The Death Eater pointed his wand at Hermione,  
  
"Avada Kedavra" The jet of green light flew towards Hermione.  
  
"HERMIONE, DUCK!" Hermione was too stunned to move, Harry forced her head down and the curse flew over her head, missing her by millimetres and hit a second year girl sitting behind them. Fury boiled in Harry's blood.  
  
He stood up and drew his wand,  
  
"Go get Dumbledore." He snapped to them, Ron opened his mouth to argue, "Don't argue, I'm the only one who can handle this." They jumped up and sprinted towards the castle. Harry watched them for a second before running towards the Death Eater.  
  
He could immediately see that this was no ordinary Death Eater. For one he carried a sword at his waist. For another he had a black mask instead of a white one and the Dark Mark on his robe sleeve was silver instead of white. He could also perform the killing curse.  
  
Harry quickly let of a short burst of stunners to test the Death Eaters reactions. The first stunner had barely left Harry's wand when the Death Eater had a shield charm up.  
  
Harry's stunning spells flew back towards him and he fell to one knee to avoid them. The Death Eater retaliated with a slashing curse. Harry rolled to the right, unleashing a torrent of stunners and slashing curses. The Death Eater performed a shield charm; side stepped and fired a barrage of stunners towards Harry. Harry threw himself forward and the spells flew overhead. He stood up again and fired off a few slashing curses. The Death Eater ducked them and retaliated with a stunning spell. Harry wasn't quick enough and the stunner hit him square in the chest but fortunately it merely bounced off the dragon skin armour.  
  
Harry began to suspect that the Death Eater did not want to kill him, but merely wanted to capture him. Harry knew that he wasn't going to be able to stun the Death Eater so he began to fight defensively to give him time to think of a plan.  
  
He remembered Lupin telling him why he was doing sword training. It was because you couldn't always rely on your wand. If your opponent was an expert in shield charms you won't be able to affect him with magic because spells did not have the continuous driving force required to push through a magical barrier, whereas a sword did.  
  
A plan was beginning to form in Harry's mind. First he needed to disarm the Death Eater, which would prove to be difficult seeing as he couldn't get a spell to touch him. Suddenly he remembered a tactic Ron had used against him.  
  
Harry side stepped a stunner that was flying towards him and unleashed a few slashing curses. As he had predicted the Death Eater sent up an advanced shield charm. Harry counted to eight and fired a few disarming spells. The advanced shield charm deflected the first one but the next disarming spell hit him and the Death Eater's wand flew towards Harry who caught it and snapped it in half.  
  
The Death Eater let out a bellow of rage. Harry grinned and slipped his wand into his sword belt. He knew that he could end the fight with a simple slashing curse to the throat but he wanted to kill this Death Eater up close. Harry was furious and he wanted revenge for that second year's death.  
  
Harry drew his sword and ran towards the Death Eater, about to cross swords with an enemy for the first time. Possibly about to cross swords for the last time.  
  
******  
  
Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Cho sprinted towards Dumbledore's office.  
  
"What's the password?" panted Ginny as they approached, they reached the stone gargoyle and Hermione gasped out,  
  
"Honeyduke's Chocolate." The stone gargoyle began to move and they dashed into Dumbledore's office. Professor McGonagall, Moody, and Dumbledore looked up in surprise. Without waiting for them to speak, Ron blurted out,  
  
"Death Eater in the grounds...Harry's duelling with him." The three professors looked horrified and ran out of Dumbledore's office with the teenagers hot on their heels.  
  
******  
  
Harry swung his blade at the Death Eater's head and was immediately forced to step back and parry the Death Eater's counter-attack. Harry dodged the Death Eater's lunge and spun round to bring himself behind the Death Eater, the Death Eater reverse-lunged; Harry jumped back but slipped and fell over. This saved his life as he hadn't reacted quickly enough and he would have been caught in the stomach if he hadn't of slipped.  
  
The Death Eater's sword missed him and Harry lunged his sword upwards and caught the Death Eater in the back of the thigh. The Death Eater let out a roar of rage and pain; spun round and stabbed downwards. Harry rolled to the right. He was then forced to roll to the left to avoid another downward stab. Harry knocked the Death Eater's sword aside when he stabbed down again and struggled to his feet.  
  
After a few more minutes of hard attack, parry, counter attack, parry again, attack, parry, counter attack, parry again, Harry was beginning to tire. The Death Eater was fighting hard to get the mission completed quickly.  
  
Harry knew that he wouldn't be able to defeat the Death Eater easily. He was just too tired, whereas the Death Eater was only beginning to show signs of tiredness. Suddenly an idea came to his mind and he knew that it was his only option left. Neither of them saw the professors and Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Cho arrive.  
  
Harry lunged and as he expected the Death Eater simply knocked his sword aside. However Harry didn't put up any resistance, he let his sword get knocked aside easily. The Death Eater gave a shout of triumph and lunged at Harry's shoulder.  
  
Harry gave a shout of pain as the blade pierced his armour and then his skin.  
  
But that was the Death Eater's fatal mistake. For Harry's sword had pierced his gut. Harry thrust his sword in deeper and twisted it. The Death Eater looked up at Harry in surprise, with blood dribbling out of his mouth.  
  
"That's for the second year." Harry growled, he twisted again, "And that's for me." Harry pulled his sword out of the Death Eater's gut. The Death Eater fell backwards dead.  
  
Carrying the bloodied sword Harry turned around and walked towards the teachers and Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Cho. There were looks of horror on their faces. They had seen Harry get stabbed. His face was etched with determination and there was a fury and grim satisfaction in his eyes. He approached the teachers and walked past them without a word. The four teenagers ran after him.  
  
Professor McGonagall watched Harry as he entered the castle. Few things scared or awed Minerva McGonagall. But as she saw Harry kill that Death Eater and then not show any signs of regret, but merely look as if he had been doing it all his life, Minerva McGonagall could safely say that she was awed, and even scared, by the ability of the young man.  
  
Moody watched Harry with a mixture of pride and respect. Alastor Moody respected few people and all of them were older than him. All apart from one. To kill a Death Eater and be that close took an enormous amount of guts. To not show any regret, to mask your feelings took even more. Harry had earned a lot of respect from Moody. Moody realised something that left him stunned, he voiced this thought to the other two adults.  
  
"He's become a killer." McGonagall and Dumbledore nodded in agreement.  
  
A/N IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ Ok, another chapter done. I have a problem that many other authors seem to be facing. I think I am not receiving most of my reviews. I will see how the reviews for this chapter go and if I get substantially less than I expect I will take further action.  
  
LogicalRaven – Thanks for the review.  
  
Anime-Master7 – Thanks for the review.  
  
Colm – Great minds think alike. As I was writing the end of chapter five I had the idea of a one on one between Harry and one of Voldemort's assassins. Hope you enjoyed the fight. Let me know if you did or didn't in a review. I am sorry about not updating earlier, I had a problem concerning floppy disks which made me unable to update.  
  
Keep reading and reviewing, 'cos I'll keep writing.  
  
Fireboy 


	7. The Troubles of a Hero

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.  
  
The Second Darkness  
  
Chapter 7: The Troubles of a Hero.  
  
Harry was losing blood fast, he was becoming light-headed. He stumbled a few more steps before falling to his knees. His head was swimming and his vision was slipping in and out of focus. He breathed deeply a few times but that only made it worse.  
  
He struggled to his feet and took a few more shaky steps. He felt sick, he had taken someone's life and he had felt a satisfaction from doing so.  
  
He heard hurried footsteps coming from behind him, he heard someone shout his name, but it sounded distant, the sound echoed in his ears. He turned around and saw Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Cho sprinting towards him, He stumbled a few steps towards Ron who was in the lead before collapsing into his best friends arms.  
  
"It's alright mate, I've got you." That was the last thing Harry heard before he slipped out of consciousness.  
  
Ron felt a warm liquid on his hand. He looked at his hand and he saw that it was covered in blood. He looked at Harry's shoulder. The wound was pouring out copious amounts of blood.  
  
"We have to get him to the Hospital Wing. He's losing blood fast. Ginny hold onto him for a minute, Hermione go find Dumbledore and tell him to hurry, I'm no expert but I think if he loses much more blood he'll die. Cho, go get Madam Pomfrey." Hermione and Cho dashed off in different directions. Ginny held onto Harry while Ron ripped of the sleeve of his own robes. He quickly tied it around Harry shoulder.  
  
Ron and Ginny heard the sound of hurriedly approaching footsteps, from around the corner came Dumbledore, Moody, McGonagall and Hermione. Dumbledore quickly conjured a stretcher and put Harry on it.  
  
Madam Pomfrey and Cho hurried around the corner, Madam Pomfrey gasped when she saw Harry lying on a stretcher covered with blood. She whipped out her wand and quickly performed a blood replenishing charm. But it had no effect.  
  
"Quickly, get him to the Hospital Wing!" she yelled. Dumbledore charmed the stretcher to speed towards the Hospital Wing. As soon as they got there they put Harry on a bed.  
  
"Albus try every blood replenishing spell you know, the basic one doesn't work." Ordered Madam Pomfrey. She dashed towards the potion cupboard. She grabbed every blood replenishing potion she had.  
  
"You four, go back to the Gryffindor common room, including you miss Chang." Barked Professor McGonagall Without a word the four teenagers turned and walked back to the Gryffindor. The three girls were crying softly and Ron was ashen faced. Nobody needed to say a word, they all knew that Harry was dying.  
  
Ron gave the password and the Portrait Hole swung open. He entered the packed common room followed by the other three. As people saw them all conversation stopped and people began to get worried.  
  
Dean spoke up in a shaky voice, they all knew that this concerned Harry for Cho to be here,  
  
"Where's Harry?" Ron looked down at the floor,  
  
"In the Hospital Wing with Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey, Moody and McGonagall fighting for his life as we speak." Gasps of horror went around the room.  
  
"What happened?" Ron took several deep breaths to calm himself before replying,  
  
"A Death Eater Apparated into the grounds, Harry duelled with him and killed him, but in the fight he got stabbed. He lost a lot of blood and blood replenishing spells aren't working on him. If he loses much more blood then he will die." Screams of horror went round the room and terrified conversations broke out. Ron led the three girls over to a couch in the corner and they sat clutching each other, none of them saying a word.  
  
A few minutes later the Portrait Hole swung open and in stepped Professor McGonagall. Her face was pale and there were tears in her eyes and tear stains on her face. This scared the students almost as much as what they had heard from Ron. Professor McGonagall was renown for showing very little emotion and constantly being stern. Ron stood up shakily,  
  
"How is he?" Professor McGonagall smiled weakly but the weak smile never reached her eyes, her eyes gave everything away, there was sadness and worry in them.  
  
"Healers from St Mungo's have arrived but he's not looking good. The wound won't close and no blood replenishing spell or potion is working. The Healers believe that the blade has some sort of poison on it to keep the wound open and bleeding." Ron then asked the question that was on everybody's mind.  
  
"How long has he got?" McGonagall's smile faded instantly.  
  
"Less than half an hour." More gasps of horror. Ron sat down on the couch heavily. His face horrified. Professor McGonagall walked into the room and sat down on one of the armchairs.  
  
Nobody could sit still. Every few minutes people would look at their watches anxiously and then at the Portrait Hole hopefully as if expecting it to swing open and the smiling face of the Boy-Who-Lived to appear.  
  
But it never did.  
  
Fifteen minutes passed and nothing, by now all of the girls were crying softly. The boys were all pacing around the room their faces pale.  
  
Five more minutes passed. Fear and panic rose in people. A few people had given up hope and were crying loudly.  
  
Professor McGonagall, Cho, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and every Gryffindor in the DA never gave up hope.  
  
But how long can hope last?  
  
With every second that came and went they lost a little more hope.  
  
Three more minutes passed and Ron Weasley was just about to give up hope. He cast one more hopeful glance at the Portrait Hole. He was just about to turn away when the Portrait Hole began to swing open. Hope flooded him; he knew that this was either Harry returning or Dumbledore coming to tell them that Harry had died.  
  
"Guys." He breathed to the three teenagers. They all turned round and looked at the gradually opening Portrait Hole. Hope filled their expressions; every eye was on the Portrait Hole. Time seemed to slow down.  
  
And in stepped Dumbledore.  
  
Despair, sadness and terror filled everyone of them.  
  
It was over. Voldemort had won. Harry was dead.  
  
Smiling, the old man stepped aside, to reveal a grinning Harry. Smiling broadly, the Boy-Who-Lived stepped into the room.  
  
He grinned mischievously at the pale, tear stained faces that looked at him,  
  
"So you missed me then?" Ron, Cho, Ginny and Hermione leaped over the back of the couch and sprinted towards him. Cho got there first. She looked at him, drew back her hand and slapped him hard. She then threw herself onto him weeping with happiness,  
  
"Don't you ever do that to me again!" Ron launched himself onto his best friend, laughing and crying at the same time, causing Harry to lose his balance and topple backwards.  
  
"Don't you ever do that to me again, either!" Ginny and Hermione, both in the same state as Ron, jumped onto the three figures on the floor. What followed was a mad combination of hugging and wrestling, all five of them rolling around on the floor laughing and crying at the same time  
  
Nobody could resist cheering madly at the five teenagers rolling around on the floor shouting and laughing with happiness. Their relief at seeing Harry well again was poured into every shout, cheer and whistle.  
  
Soon the whole common room, with Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore standing at the side watching them, was chasing each other around shouting happily.  
  
"How did they heal him?" asked Professor McGonagall.  
  
"The Healers discovered what poison was keeping the wound open and bleeding and they administered the antidote and then healed it."  
  
"It was a close call."  
  
"Closer then you expect." There was a tone to the old mans voice that made McGonagall realise it had been close, she cast him a sidelong glance.  
  
"How close?" The old man sighed.  
  
"An eighth of a pint more and Harry would be dead. In time, that is less than a minute." McGonagall gasped.  
  
"That close! If Harry was an animigus he would definitely be an animal belonging to the cat family!" McGonagall exclaimed, Dumbledore laughed.  
  
"I'm sure he would. Now if you'll excuse me Minerva I must go thank the Healers." McGonagall nodded and followed Dumbledore out of the common room.  
  
******  
  
Cho was chasing Harry around the common room while Ron, Hermione and Ginny stood to one side clearly amused.  
  
"I didn't mean it!" yelled Harry desperately over his shoulder as he vaulted another chair.  
  
"Too late for that! Never insult a Ravenclaw!" laughed Cho in mock anger, Harry threw another desperate look over his shoulder and saw, to his horror, that Cho was catching, as he was running past Ron, Ron, whistling, looked up at the ceiling, and casually stuck his foot out.  
  
Harry tripped over Ron's foot and went skidding across the floor, he glared at Ron, who smirked back, but that glare quickly changed to a look of horror as he saw Cho run towards him. He tried to scramble up but Cho jumped on him.  
  
After a few minutes of rolling around the floor, with Ron, Hermione and Ginny howling with laughter as Harry tried, unsuccessfully, to throw Cho off, Harry and Cho paused to get their breath back. Harry was lying with his back to the floor and Cho was sitting astride Harry' hips pinning his arms to the floor. Harry looked at the position they were and grinned up at Cho.  
  
"I could get used to this." He said mischievously, Cho rolled her eyes.  
  
"I'm sure you could-" Cho bent down and whispered something in Harry's ear that made him blush and grin.  
  
"For someone who was knocking at Death's door half an hour ago, you're incredibly lively." Laughed Ginny. Harry grinned and made a face.  
  
"Madam Pomfrey poured so many different potions down me that I thought she had gotten sick of me being so much trouble and was trying to overdose me." The four teenagers laughed at this.  
  
Gradually people began to go to bed, many of them coming and bidding Harry goodnight. Finally it was just the five teenagers left in the room with Dean and Seamus having just gone to bed. Harry sat down on the couch next to Cho sub-consciously rubbing the bandage around his shoulder.  
  
"Still painful?" she asked softly,  
  
"What- oh - yeah, the Healers told me that there will still be some poison in there that will make it painful.  
  
"Well I'm glad you're ok." Cho leaned in and they began kissing passionately.  
  
The Portrait Hole swung open. When Ron saw who it was he nudged Hermione and Ginny and pointed over to Harry and Cho who were still kissing. Ron rubbed his hands together excitedly,  
  
"Oh boy, this is gonna be sweet!" Hermione rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide the smile that was playing on her lips. Ginny was grinning broadly. There was silence for a few minutes then,  
  
"Hem, hem." Neither Harry or Cho looked up.  
  
"Hem, hem." A little louder now, still no reaction,  
  
"Hem, hem." Louder still, at this both Harry and Cho looked up, identical expressions of horror on their faces which were the colour of ripe tomatoes, upon seeing their faces Ron burst into a raucous peal of laughter and even Hermione and Ginny could not help laughing. Standing there, looking highly amused was Professor McGonagall.  
  
"Miss Chang, I think it is time for you to return to your own common room." Cho stood up her eyes fixed firmly on the floor. She hurried out of the common room not daring to look at Professor McGonagall. Professor McGonagall smiled at Harry before sweeping out of the common room.  
  
Harry fell backwards into the couch,  
  
"Jesus, that is probably one of the most embarrassing things that has ever happened to me." He glanced over at the other three, "It's not funny!" He said indignantly. Hermione tried to look sympathetic but failed miserably. Ron, however, did not even attempt to try and look sympathetic. He rolled off the couch, landed on all fours and started banging his fist on the floor howling with laughter,  
  
"You – should – have – seen – your –faces!" Harry rolled his eyes and stood up.  
  
"I'm going to bed and tell him," Harry indicated Ron who was now lying on his back clutching his chest, crying with laughter, "to lay off the sugar." Harry climbed the staircase to the boys' dormitories.  
  
******  
  
Harry woke up late the next morning a heavy feeling of dread in his stomach. News travelled like wildfire in Hogwarts, by time he got down to breakfast the whole damn school will know, thought Harry angrily as he slipped on the repaired-dragonskin armour.  
  
Harry pushed open the double doors to the Great Hall and to his immense surprise and relief nobody stopped eating and stared at him. Harry suspected that Gryffindors had been warned not to tell anyone. He finished his breakfast quickly, not wanting to push his luck by staying there too long.  
  
The day passed unusually quickly for Harry and before he knew it he was walking towards the Great Hall for dinner with Ron and Hermione.  
  
They entered the Great Hall and stopped. The entire Hall was decked in black. Harry realised that it was a mark of respect for the second year girl that had died. He sat down between Ron and Hermione. Dumbledore stood up and silence fell.  
  
"It is my sad duty to report that yesterday Julia Sandmark was killed. Killed by an assassin of Lord Voldemort." Gasps went around the room. "Julia exemplified the qualities that distinguish Ravenclaw. She was an intelligent, kind and friendly young girl. I ask you now to stand and raise glasses to Julia Sandmark." Everyone stood up and said in one low, rumbling voice,  
  
"Julia Sandmark." Everyone took a sip from their goblets and then sat down again muttering in low voices. Dumbledore raised his hand for silence. Gradually people fell silent and looked up at Dumbledore expectantly.  
  
"There is one person who must be mentioned in connection with Julia's death. Harry Potter duelled with one of Voldemort's assassins who wanted to capture Harry. Harry killed the assassin" For some reason Harry was getting angrier and angrier. He had no idea why. It could have been the fact that everyone was staring at him or that Dumbledore was giving him more publicity, publicity that he didn't want.  
  
"Harry was wounded in the battle and was nearly killed. Nearly killed to protect him and others around him, he was prepared to die for other people. He showed a bravery that few wizards would have shown." Harry was furious and he didn't know why. He stood up shaking with anger.  
  
"That is a lie." Every head in the room turned to him. Dumbledore and the rest of the teachers looked highly surprised, "Most wizards would have stood up to him. I am no hero and you know it. I am a fool who nearly got myself killed because I was determined to play the hero. That assassin taught me something; he taught me that I know how to kill. What's more he taught me that I can kill without a second thought. I can kill without mercy if I have to. I don't want to go through life knowing that I can murder and feel no regret." Dumbledore stared at Harry incredulously.  
  
"I am afraid I don't understand what you mean." Anger boiled in Harry's veins and he drew his sword swiftly. He was comforted by the familiar weight in his hand.  
  
"You know perfectly bloody well what I mean. I mean that I don't want to go through life killing people. I mean that one day I am going to get myself killed because of my foolish determination to play the hero." Dumbledore shook his head sadly.  
  
"You are not playing the hero, Harry. You are a hero whether you like it or not." Harry stabbed his sword into the Gryffindor table so it stood vertically, making the people around him jump violently. Eight inches of blade sank into the thousand-year-old oak table.  
  
"I AM NO HERO!" Harry yelled.  
  
"You are, you have no option." Harry looked at him and when he spoke again it was in a cold, hard voice.  
  
"The wizarding world can go find a new hero then, because I just don't care anymore." Harry turned and walked out of the Great Hall with every eye on his back. Dumbledore, Ron and Hermione followed him.  
  
They caught up with him at the marble staircase.  
  
"Harry, you have no option. If you stop caring then the wizarding world is doomed." Harry turned around slowly.  
  
"Tell people to write their wills then." Hermione looked at him with tears in her eyes,  
  
"Have you really stopped caring?" Harry sighed.  
  
"Do you have an idea what it felt like, stabbing my sword into that assassin and watching him die, so close that I could see every feature on his face, every expression in his eyes. It felt good in a way. I felt like I had a power over him, it felt good knowing that I was doing to them what they had been doing to thousands of innocent people. But after the satisfaction comes the guilt and the regret. I took someone's life away. They will never wake up to see the sunlight pouring in through the windows, or listen to the birds sing. I hated that feeling and I never want to feel it again. It's much easier to kill someone at a distance, then they're just figures, you don't see whether they are scared to die...or whether they welcome death."  
  
"That is what makes you different to them, Harry. You regretted doing it." Said Dumbledore urgently. Harry shook his head.  
  
"That makes no difference, I still killed someone whether I regretted it afterwards or not." Hermione spoke up in a shaky voice,  
  
"What did that Death Eater look like, was he scared to die?" Harry looked up at her.  
  
"He was terrified. Absolutely terrified, but in a way, he welcomed death." Dumbledore opened his mouth to say something, but Harry held up his hand to stop him.  
  
"I know. I know what will happen if I just give up. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to." Without another word Harry turned and strode up the marble staircase.  
  
******  
  
Harry's outburst scared everyone in the school. They all knew about the prophecy as Dumbledore had told them when he returned to the Great Hall.  
  
They all knew that Harry was slowly giving up. He became withdrawn and spoke to few people. They could see that the burden on his shoulders was slowly wearing him down.  
  
The school became edgy and tense; everyone was on the lookout for Death Eaters suddenly arriving.  
  
For when the Hero fails, so does everyone else.  
  
******  
  
Harry swung his sword in a wild, uncontrolled movement at Lupin's head. Lupin ducked and stabbed at Harry's stomach but stopped short. Harry shrugged and half-heartedly resumed the starting position. Lupin shook his head.  
  
"Harry, that's the seventh time I've beaten you in the last ten minutes and not once have you put up a decent fight." Harry shrugged again,  
  
"Why should I?" Lupin shook his head in horrified astonishment,  
  
"You really don't care anymore do you?"  
  
"No." Lupin sat down and indicated Harry to follow suite.  
  
"How do you think your father and Sirius would feel if they knew you'd given up?" Lupin said harshly, Harry shrugged not remotely interested.  
  
"They don't know. So why are you worrying about it?"  
  
"Because the reason they don't know is because they were killed by, or on the orders of Voldemort. You giving up is an insult to their memories. They died so you can carry on fighting. If you give up then they died in vain." Harry looked up, he hadn't thought of it that way.  
  
"You have to care. You have to be the hero. Because there are precious few heroes in this time and you are one of them. Don't give up. Don't give Voldemort that satisfaction. If you go down, go down fighting. Show Voldemort what you are made of. Show Voldemort the true meaning of fear." The conviction with which Lupin spoke these words inspired Harry and made him realise that giving up was the coward's way out.  
  
"I've been scared long enough, it's Voldemort's turn now." Lupin nodded, he was extremely proud of Harry.  
  
"James and Sirius would be proud of you."  
  
The wizarding world have lived in fear long enough, let them fear now. The hero is back. And he intends to give Voldemort hell. Real hell.  
  
A/N Another chapter done. Over the next few chapters you are going to see Harry really struggle with what he has to do. You will have noticed that Harry's unwillingness to continue fighting was short-lived. It may seem like that but I can tell you that it is not as short-lived as it looks. Fortunately it turns out I had no problem with receiving reviews.  
  
LogicalRaven – Jesus, you really know how to send someone on a guilt trip! Seriously though, I have taken those words to heart. I read your review and it made me understand that I write because I enjoy writing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing this just to get reviews, I'm doing this because I enjoy writing. Thanks for the review; it was one of the most useful reviews I have ever received.  
  
BreakDancist – Thank you very much. That review really made me feel good; it made me so happy to see that you are enjoying my fic that much. Right now I am ok and do not need a beta just yet. Give me your e-mail address and if I do a chapter that I want beta'd than I will send it to you. Thanks very much for the offer.  
  
Colm – Thanks, there will be a fight at the end of this fic. I hope it lives up to your expectations.  
  
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing!  
  
Fireboy 


	8. The Attack on Hogsmeade

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.  
  
The Second Darkness  
  
Chapter 8: The Attack on Hogsmeade  
  
Voldemort was furious. He paced around the room with Wormtail cowering in a ball in its centre. There would be hell to pay. Pointing his wand at Wormtail, he performed the cruciatus curse. Wormtail writhed in agony, screaming at the top of his lungs. Eventually Voldemort lifted the curse,  
  
"I thought I told you to make sure that the assassin didn't fail." Voldemort said to the panting Wormtail coldly.  
  
"My lord...I am truly sorry...I didn't realise Harry Potter was so well trained." Voldemort sat down in the chair.  
  
"No matter, next time we will have to be better prepared. Severus." One of the Death Eaters lining the wall stepped forward and bowed low,  
  
"My lord?"  
  
"When is the next Hogsmeade weekend?" Snape thought quickly,  
  
"Next weekend." Voldemort nodded.  
  
"Excellent. We will capture Potter then." He looked at Wormtail with  
great disgust.  
  
"Get up." He snapped at him. Wormtail hurried to his feet. He looked up at Voldemort,  
  
"Yes, my lord?"  
  
"Send Marveck to me." Wormtail bowed low and hurried out of the room. He returned a few minutes later with a tall, muscular man.  
  
"Marveck, I want you to summon a few of our best Death Eaters and a couple of assassins and then return here. There is an attack I want you to carry out."  
  
******  
  
Snape hovered hesitantly outside the Gryffindor common room. Entering the common room of his least favourite house to get his least favourite pupil was not something that Snape enjoyed doing.  
  
Taking a deep breath he blurted out the password to the Fat Lady. The Portrait Hole swung open and Snape stepped inside. He looked around, great dislike etched onto his face. He saw Harry and his friends sitting in front of the fireplace playing chess.  
  
"Potter." He said coldly, Harry looked up in surprise. He muttered something to Ron and Hermione who were looking equally surprised before walking over to Snape.  
  
"Professor?" Harry's voice was politely incredulous which caused Snape to let some of the dislike in his voice to leave.  
  
"I have found something out that the Headmaster feels you ought to know. Weasley and Granger had better come too." Harry turned round and beckoned Ron and Hermione over. When they had both joined them Snape turned around and swept out of the Gryffindor common room.  
  
He led them towards Dumbledore's office at a fast pace. They got there and Snape gave the password to the stone gargoyles. They climbed the revolving stairs into Dumbledore's office. Inside were the Headmaster, Lupin, Tonks, Moody and McGonagall. As soon as they were all settled Dumbledore spoke.  
  
"Professor Snape has discovered something extremely alarming. Next weekend, a Hogsmeade weekend, a group of Death Eaters will attack the village." Gasps went round the room. Judging by the reactions of everyone else only Snape and Dumbledore had known about it before now.  
  
"How many Death Eaters?" asked Harry quickly. Snape stepped forward.  
  
"Voldemort said a few but when there are a lot of us present a few does not necessarily mean a few. If there are a lot of us present he is not accurate. For security reasons." Harry nodded,  
  
"I presume it is for me?" Snape nodded. Harry looked thoughtful.  
  
"I reckon we can make a fairly accurate guess as to how many Death Eaters will attack." Tonks looked at Harry surprised,  
  
"How?"  
  
"First of all there is only going to be ten to twelve Death Eaters." Snape stepped forward again.  
  
"Plus a couple of assassins." He said coldly. Harry nodded,  
  
"Plus a couple of assassins then. We know this because we know that this is not a full-scale attack. This is a kidnapping. Voldemort is not going to send too many Death Eaters for two reasons. One, this is only a kidnapping and it does not require many Death Eaters. Too many Death Eaters would increase the risk of the plan being discovered. Also," Harry grinned broadly, "And this is our greatest advantage, Voldemort doesn't know we know. So he does not expect much, if any, resistance." Dumbledore and the rest of the adults looked impressed.  
  
"What we need to know is where they will attack from." mused Lupin. Harry grinned at him before turning to Professor Dumbledore.  
  
"Do you have a map of Hogsmeade and the surrounding area, Professor?"  
  
"I do." Dumbledore opened a box by his desk and pulled out a large piece of parchment bound tightly with a piece of red silk. Dumbledore untied the silk and unrolled the map on his desk so Harry could see it. Harry studied it for a minute before grinning.  
  
"Here," said Harry pointing to an area on the southern outskirts of Hogsmeade, "Is where they'll attack. On a small ridge-like hill there was a line of trees, about a hundred metres from one side to the other width-wise and about a hundred metres long. Behind the tree line was Hogsmeade, about two hundred metres away. In front of the tree line was a piece of flat land, which the map said was bushes and shrubbery. The flat land was about two hundred metres long and then there was a hill that hid the land beyond it.  
  
Lupin looked surprised,  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"Easy. It's the only place they can attack from. Hogsmeade is built on a hill that overlooks the surrounding area. To the east and west it is just flat open land so the Death Eaters won't be able to Apparate there, they'd be spotted immediately. To the north is Hogwarts; I don't need to explain why they can't Apparate there. The south is the only place. They can Apparate between the hill and the trees and they won't be seen."  
  
"You've really thought this through, Potter." Said Moody. Harry shrugged,  
  
"It is better to think it through and be prepared then not to bother and be caught unprepared. Plus I want to take full advantage of the fact that Voldemort doesn't know we know he's going to try and get me."  
  
"You're certainly full of surprises tonight, Potter." Said Professor McGonagall. Tonks stepped forward.  
  
"How do we know that the Death Eaters won't just Apparate into the village?" Harry smiled,  
  
"By just Apparating into the village the Death Eaters would cause an enormous amount of panic, which would make me harder to find amongst it. Say they Apparate where I expect them to, they can use the trees as cover to observe the village and, when I'm in the right position, that's when they'll strike." Harry looked around the room. The faces on the adults were those of immense shock. Harry's logic and sudden grasp of tactics left them stunned.  
  
"You have certainly grown up quickly recently." Said Dumbledore  
  
"When you live a life like mine it's difficult no to." Snape was the first to recover,  
  
"Well, seeing you're the expert what do you propose we do about it? You've laid down their battle plans now lay down ours." He sneered. Harry smirked at him. He was sick of Snape's attitude towards him.  
  
"Give me a handful of the Order, let me take the DA and I will fight them off." For the first time there was doubt on the Professors' faces.  
  
"Are you sure you could do this? Without taking heavy casualties? Without any deaths." Dumbledore said slowly.  
  
"Trust me, plus, we have the advantage of surprise." Dumbledore nodded hesitantly.  
  
"Fine, which Order members would you like?"  
  
"Give me Lupin, Moody, Tonks and Emmeline Vance." Dumbledore nodded,  
  
"Just out of curiosity, why not me, or Minerva or some of the Aurors?" asked Dumbledore,  
  
"I want to make this look like chance, look like sheer coincidence that we were there. Not planning. Say we take Aurors, they will realise that it was not chance. The same applies to the Headmaster of Hogwarts." Dumbledore nodded.  
  
"That makes sense. But what happens if they do realise that it is not chance and that the attack was discovered."  
  
"We kill them all before they can report to Voldemort and hope that Voldemort thinks its pure chance that we were there." There was a steely glint in his eyes and his voice was hard.  
  
"One more thing though," Harry turned to Snape, "Professor, you do realise that by telling us this you have put your life in even more danger. If Voldemort realises that it was not chance that we were there then he will realise that there is a spy in his inner circle, how else would the plan have been discovered?" Snape paled but recovered quickly.  
  
"I know, but that won't stop me from spying." Harry grinned at him; for once in his life he had respect for his potions master. He turned and looked at Dumbledore,  
  
"If you'll excuse me Professor, I must go and call a DA meeting, but first can I ask one thing?" Dumbledore nodded, "Could you be in the Three Broomsticks with a couple of teachers just in case we need help?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"If you wouldn't mind I would like you to be back here afterwards, there are a couple of things we will need to fine-tune." Harry nodded and bowed before sweeping out of the room with Hermione and Ron behind him.  
  
They got to the bottom of the stairs and Harry took out the fake galleon. He began changing the numbers. Ron exhaled deeply,  
  
"An attack on Hogsmeade!"  
  
"I know." Said Harry distractedly.  
  
"You're not worried about it are you?" Ron asked Harry surprised.  
  
"Not really." Ron shook his head and leaned in towards Hermione,  
  
"He's changed." He whispered to her.  
  
"Of course he has, look at what he's been through." She whispered back. Harry finished changing the numbers. The moment he finished Ron let out a yelp of pain. Harry and Hermione looked at him curiously.  
  
"I just found out there's a hole in my pocket." He said ruefully, taking the still warm galleon out of it. Harry and Hermione didn't stop laughing until they reached the Room of Requirement.  
  
They entered the Room of Requirement to see that everybody was already present and looking up at Harry expectantly.  
  
"Ok, I've got some really bad news. There is going to be an attack on Hogsmeade this weekend in order to capture me." Harry stopped and looked around. There was an only trace of fear on people's faces. They all looked determined, ready to fight. Harry grinned slightly. "I know where the Death Eaters are going to attack from so we won't need to worry about that. Basically we are going to be defending in a small group of trees. The Death Eaters need to get into those trees so we need to stop them. In order to stop them getting into the trees we are going to have to cover the whole of one edge of the tree line. To do that I will split you up into groups, each group with a leader, I will lead the group in the centre, Ron the group on my left and Hermione the group on my right." He paused for a minute and looked around the room, quickly calculating groups.  
  
"Ok, the groups are, in the centre, under me: Ginny, Dean, Cho, Terry, Parvati, Susan and Justin. Under Ron: Lavender, Colin, Ernie, Padma, Seamus and Hannah. Under Hermione: Neville, Dennis Zacharias, Michael, Luna and Anthony. Ok, that's everyone. Good luck. You've done it before you can do it again. Give them hell."  
  
******  
  
The next few days passed in a blur for Harry, occasional bouts of worry but mainly going over plans in head over and over again until he knew them off by heart.  
  
Before he knew it Saturday had arrived and, as they had planned, Harry, the DA, Lupin, Tonks, Moody and Vance were sprinting down to Hogsmeade half an hour before the rest of the school.  
  
They reached the tree line and Harry called Ron, Hermione and the four adults over to him. He turned to Ron and Hermione first.  
  
"Listen, I want you two to act like leaders and not keep asking me for help. Do as you think fit. Get them to stay behind trees at all times, make sure they don't present themselves as easy targets, these aren't going to be ordinary Death Eaters. They are going to be much better. This is, after all, a very important mission." Ron and Hermione nodded, "A couple more things. You two must stand where I can see you an you can see me and also, keep coming over to give me regular reports, I need to know what's going on. Finally don't start firing spells till I tell you." They nodded again and ran off to get set up. Harry turned to the four adults.  
  
"Do what you want, you're not under my command." Moody shrugged,  
  
"Maybe so but we would follow you to the bowels of hell. You tell us what to do and we'll do it." Harry was slightly shocked by this statement but recovered quickly.  
  
"Ok, protect our flanks then, Lupin I need you to stay close to me, I have a feeling that before the day is out there will be a need for some sword work." Lupin nodded. Moody and Tonks moved towards Ron's group who had drawn their wands and were settling behind trees looking over to the flatland between the hill and the trees. Lupin and Vance hurried over to Hermione's group who were already settled. Hermione had placed her stronger fighters on the outside while the weaker fighters were relatively close to where Harry's group were about to go.  
  
Harry led his group over to the centre of the front of the tree line. He indicated where people were to go before settling himself behind a thick oak tree from where he could see Ron and Hermione and the flatlands. He saw Ron give him the thumbs up; he returned the gesture before settling himself more comfortably against the tree.  
  
"And now we wait." He muttered to himself.  
  
After half an hour Harry was beginning to wonder where the Death Eaters were. He looked over to the flatlands once again. Still nothing. He looked around the DA; it had to be handed to them. They were being incredibly patient. They were not fiddling or making themselves obvious. They were just standing there, waiting for the Death Eaters to come.  
  
Suddenly Parvati hissed his name. He looked at her and she pointed over to the flatlands. Harry looked round and sure enough about a dozen Death Eaters had Apparated there. Harry swore and stuck his hand up in the air. Ron and Hermione looked at him and nodded. By now everyone had noticed the Death Eaters and had tensed. Harry watched the Death Eaters approach slowly, cautiously. When they were thirty feet away, Harry let his hand drop. The spells flew.  
  
The Death Eaters' reactions were incredible. Only one of them was hit by a stunning spell. The rest had shield charms up and were slowly retreating backwards under the cover of them, two of them dragging their fallen comrade.  
  
The Death Eaters took cover behind bushes and logs and quickly retaliated. Harry fired a stunning spell at a Death Eater who had poked his head out from behind a bush. Harry was quickly forced to duck behind a tree as a spell flew at him. He watched it fly passed the tree he was behind and hit a rock. Harry glanced to his left. Ron's group were doing ok, they weren't giving ground but two of them, Harry couldn't see which two, were lying on the ground.  
  
He sent out another stunning spell at a bush that a Death Eater was hiding behind. Harry watched as the spell buried itself in the bush's leaves. Harry swore. The Death Eaters were staying well under cover.  
  
He threw out a bunch of spells at a Death Eater who had stood up to get a better shot. To his annoyance the Death Eater dropped to the ground and Harry's spells flew harmlessly over the Death Eater's head.  
  
Harry cast a glance to his left. All of Ron's group were up and fighting but a few of them were still sporting deep cuts. Ron caught Harry's eye and sprinted over to him.  
  
"We're in trouble, they're hitting us but we're not hitting them." Harry nodded,  
  
"Listen, just keep their heads down, I'm trying to think of a plan." Ron nodded and ran back over to his group. Harry looked over at Hermione's group. To his surprise they were slowly advancing. He beckoned Hermione over. In an instant she was by his side.  
  
"Tell them to hold their ground, I don't want you to lose the tree cover." Hermione nodded and ran back. Harry saw one of the Death Eaters creep forward. Harry edged round to the right and fired a slashing curse at the Death Eaters neck. At the last moment the Death Eater stood up slightly and the curse hit him on the shoulder. The Death Eater clapped a hand to his shoulder and looked round to where the curse had come from. He saw Harry; shot a stunner at him before ducking back under cover.  
  
Harry swore and rolled back behind the tree. He felt someone tap his shoulder and he turned round. Ron was standing there looking ashen and worried.  
  
"What is it?" asked Harry quickly.  
  
"The Death Eaters are slowly moving forward and we can't hold them back. We spend more time doing healing spells on our troops than firing spells at them." Harry thought quickly,  
  
"Send a few people round to the right and to the left, try and get a crossfire going." Ron nodded and ran back to his group. Halfway there a slashing curse hit his leg. He stumbled and fell, a second spell flying over his head. Harry sprinted over to him. He quickly cast an advanced shield charm. Three stunners immediately deflected off of it. Harry healed Ron's leg in a second.  
  
"Cheers." Said Ron leaping to his feet.  
  
"Get to that tree, I'll cover you." Barked Harry. Ron nodded and sprinted towards the tree Harry had indicated. Harry unleashed a barrage of stunners and burn curses. As soon as Ron was safe behind the tree, Harry sprinted towards his ground, head down with spells hitting the ground around him and flying over his head. Dean and Susan saw him running towards them with spells narrowly missing him. They turned to their left and fired spells at the Death Eaters trying to hit Harry.  
  
Harry sprinted and ducked behind a tree next to Dean.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"No problem." Dean looked around the tree and fired a couple of stunners at a bush that was hiding a Death Eater, "How we doing?"  
  
"Not bad. Ron's not doing too great but Hermione's group is doing well." Harry glanced across at Hermione's group. Lupin could be seen firing slashing curses at a Death Eater who had taken cover behind a fallen tree trunk.  
  
Harry clapped Dean on the shoulder and ran off towards the right, sending out stunners as he did so. He dived behind a tree when a green jet off light flew towards him. He sat with his back to it, he looked round,  
  
"Stupefy!" To his satisfaction the jet of red light hit the Death Eater who had stood up and pointed his wand at Ginny. The Death Eater fell forward and, throwing caution to the winds, Harry darted forward, drawing his sword as he did so, and sprinted to where the unconscious Death eater was lying. Harry raised his sword and then plunged it down into the Death Eater's neck. The blood gushed for a minute before slowing to a trickle, and then stopped altogether. A cheer went up from the trees.  
  
Harry turned and started running towards the trees, suddenly something struck him in the back of the leg that sent him sprawling. He rolled onto his back and threw up an advanced shield charm, several spells hitting it less than a second later. Three figures darted out from the trees, jets of light flying out of their wands. Dean and Terry covered Justin as he helped Harry to his feet. Under the cover of four shield charms the teenagers sprinted back towards the trees.  
  
Harry leant against a tree panting,  
  
"Thanks." The other three nodded before running off. Harry stuck his head around the tree, jets of red light flying from his wand. Harry looked around and it felt like someone had poured a bucket of icy water into his stomach. Several of the DA were lying on the floor and the rest were injured.  
  
Ron and Hermione were suddenly by his side,  
  
"What the hell happened? One minute were doing fine the next were dropping left, right and centre." Harry yelled over the noise of the battle. Ron shook his head despairingly,  
  
"I dunno, they suddenly started getting more hits on us. I can tell you one thing, we can't hold them for much longer."  
  
"Lupin said he saw some more assassins arrive." Said Hermione. Harry pushed Ron's head down, a jet of light narrowly missing him.  
  
"Hermione, send some of the DA round to the right, try and distract them, Ron get everyone who's left to start healing, I'm going to speak to Lupin." They nodded and ran off. Harry sprinted towards Lupin who was taking cover behind a large rock firing stunning spells. Harry dived behind the rock and fired a burn curse at a Death Eater who had stood up to get a better shot at him. An agonised scream told him that he had hit his mark.  
  
"Lupin, we're in trouble."  
  
"I know, they've got reinforcements."  
  
"Listen, in a couple of minutes I want you to come and find me. I've got a plan, but we need most of the DA to be up and fighting to be able to do it." Lupin nodded and then ducked as a spell hit the rock and knocked a chip off.  
  
Harry stood up and ran towards a tree right at the very front, he ducked behind it. He looked over to the right where spells could be seen flying out of a small group of bushes. Hermione had managed to get a group of people there then, thought Harry. He leant round the tree,  
  
"Incendare!" A jet of bright orange light flew out of Harry's wand, hitting a bush and setting it on fire. A figure leapt up from behind it, burning furiously. Harry's stunner hit him square in the chest. The burning figure fell to the ground. A few minutes later he was nothing more than a pile of ash. Several people looked at Harry in surprise.  
  
Harry was forced to duck behind the tree as a group of burn curses came flying towards him. Harry heard the sound of them hitting the tree, leaving black scorch marks.  
  
He edged round to the left and fired a group of stunners at a Death Eater who was slowly edging forwards, moving from cover to cover. Harry's stunners hit him as he was halfway to a large, moss covered boulder. A few well-placed slashing curses later and the Death Eater was dead. Harry darted forwards to a tree in front of him, spells hitting the ground all around him.  
  
He side stepped to the left and fired a banishing spell at a Death Eater behind a bush. At the last second the Death Eater ducked and Harry's spell flew over his head. The Death Eater saw him. Harry fired a burn curse at the Death Eater who had a shield charm up in a second. Harry jumped to the right and his own burn curse shot past him and hit a tree behind him leaving a scorch mark there.  
  
He looked round to see Lupin running towards him. Harry caught Ron and Hermione's eye, Hermione having moved back round, and beckoned them over.  
  
"Listen, I want you to get your groups to increase the amount of spells the fire, don't worry about aiming, just keep their heads down. I have a plan. It will be over soon, hopefully. One thing, tell everyone that when me and Lupin are amongst the Death Eaters, stop firing." Ron and Hermione nodded and ran off. He turned to Lupin,  
  
"Wait here for a minute, I just need to go and get a few people." Harry said quickly. He darted towards Ginny, keeping low and watching spells fly over his head. He ducked behind the tree she was firing spells from behind.  
  
"Ginny, you're in command." She looked at him shocked.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Just do it." She nodded. Harry sprinted off and got Seamus, Dean and Terry Boot. He led them back to the tree, which Lupin was behind.  
  
"Listen, I'm going to take you round, behind the Death Eaters and me and Lupin are going to be doing some sword work. I need you three to cover our retreat if things go bad." They nodded. Harry led them round to the left, they passed Moody who was firing spells from behind a tree at two Death Eaters who had taken cover behind a large rock.  
  
Finally they were all hidden behind a bush looking at the Death Eaters' backs. There were ten left, four of them assassins.  
  
"Ready?" Harry said to Lupin. Lupin nodded, they drew their swords and sprinted towards the Death Eaters. Harry got there first and plunged his sword into the back of one of the Death Eaters. Hearing the Death Eater's scream another one of them turned around,  
  
"What-" He made a strange gurgling sound as Harry's sword plunged into his gut, silencing him. Suddenly a shout went up,  
  
"They're behind us!" the rest of the Death Eaters turned, two of them falling to spells from the trees. The spells of the DA stopped and Lupin and Harry leapt towards the Death Eaters.  
  
Lupin slashed a Death Eater's gut open and the dying man vaguely tried to hold his guts in as he died. Lupin was quickly forced to parry as one of the assassins swung his sword at Lupin's head. Harry quickly plunged his sword into the assassin's side.  
  
Harry cut down the last ordinary Death Eater as the man reached for his wand, which had fallen on the ground.  
  
The three assassins drew their swords and readied themselves for a fight. Harry and Lupin were just about to cross swords with them when a cry went up from the trees.  
  
While the assassins' backs were turned, Lupin cast an anti-apparition jinx. The DA and the other three adults were sprinting towards them. The assassins tried to Apparate away but found they couldn't. They threw their swords and wands on the ground and Lupin quickly bound their wrists with lengths of thick rope he conjured.  
  
Harry saw that most of the DA were sporting injuries and a few were limping heavily. This fight had been harder than the Battle for Hogwarts.  
  
Broken, bleeding and weak the victorious DA led the assassins back towards Hogsmeade.  
  
The wizarding world was safe once more.  
  
But hell was not done yet.  
  
******  
  
A/N VERY IMPOTANT PLEASE READ.  
  
Ok, I'm really sorry but term has ended so I'm back off to Malaysia for a few more weeks (For those of you who don't know my Dad is in the RAF and is currently posted out there). Therefore I won't be able to update for a few weeks, the next update should be about the 24th of April.  
  
I am not stopping this story, I fully intend to continue.  
  
I hope you enjoyed that chapter, I decided to throw in a fight before I left. Thanks to everyone who reviewed.  
  
Anime-Master7 - Thanks for the review.  
  
Colm – Don't worry, that won't be the last fight in the fic! There will be one more. I know I said the 28th of April in the e-mail I sent you, the actual date is the 24th. Thanks for the review.  
  
Kyntor – Normally he would be expelled, but Malfoy needs to stay. You'll see why in the third part of the trilogy.  
  
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing.  
  
Fireboy 


	9. A Plan Uncovered

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.  
  
The Second Darkness.  
  
Chapter 9: A Plan Uncovered  
  
Harry limped over to the over to the assassins that Lupin had bound with an anti-Apparition jinx. There was a large cut on his leg that he didn't remember getting. He glanced towards the DA who were standing around, healing each other's wounds and talking animatedly.  
  
Harry reached the assassins and stared down at them with hatred. None of them met his eyes except one. There was a look in that one's eyes that deepened Harry's hatred of them. The assassin sneered at him. The DA fell silent when the assassin spoke,  
  
"The great Harry Potter doesn't even have the guts to kill us. Potter, your time is near, you'll die, just like your parents did, cowering and weak." Anger boiled in him and all the hatred he had ever felt for Death Eaters rose to the surface and Harry wanted nothing more than to kill this one in cold blood.  
  
"Oh yeah? I don't have the guts to kill you? Watch." The DA sucked in their breaths when they heard this. Harry drew his sword and took a step towards the assassins. Lupin stepped forward and put a restraining hand on Harry's arm.  
  
"Harry don't, they're beaten."  
  
"I don't give a damn. They've had it coming, this'll teach the bastards to piss Harry Potter off." Harry's words and tone of voice made Lupin step back, his eyes wide. Harry stepped closer to the other two assassins and slit their throats. The DA gasped. The final assassin looked up at him with fearful eyes,  
  
"Now do you think that I have don't have the guts to kill you?" The assassin didn't say a word. Harry stared at him with hatred; he bent down and cut the ropes, "Get up." The assassin scrambled to his feet.  
  
"What are you doing?" asked Lupin.  
  
"Taking him to The Three Broomsticks." Lupin nodded and they began the walk back to the village.  
  
Cho hurried up to Harry,  
  
"You alright?" He asked her. She shrugged,  
  
"I've been better, what about you?" Harry glared,  
  
"I'll be a lot happier when this bastard is dead." Cho looked at him curiously,  
  
"Why have you suddenly gone all angry?"  
  
"I've no idea." They reached Hogsmeade and villagers and the students looked at them surprised before talking in hushed voices. Five minutes later the small group came to the pub and Harry threw open the door,  
  
"Professor," Harry called loudly to Dumbledore, "I've come give you a Death Eater to interrogate and then after that Moody can add him to his collection." Moody smirked behind him, the pub fell silent and Dumbledore stood up slowly.  
  
"You have one alive?"  
  
"It was a close call, I came this close to slitting his throat," Harry held his thumb and index finger a millimetre apart, "And when you are done with him I intend to do just that, then Moody can have him." The pub froze in shock at Harry's words.  
  
The assassin tried to look confident,  
  
"You wouldn't dare slit my throat." Harry glared at him,  
  
"You have just seen me kill two of your mates in cold blood and you still think that I wouldn't do it to you." Professor McGonagall stared at Harry in horror and then looked at Lupin,  
  
"He's joking, he hasn't really killed in cold blood!"  
  
"I'm afraid he has. Slit their throats," Lupin walked over to her and lowered his voice, "One minute he is calm and the next he is killing in cold blood." McGonagall cast another horrified look at Harry.  
  
Harry kicked the assassin in the back of the leg, forcing the assassin to his knees,  
  
"I hope you have a lot of useful information for us otherwise you will find yourself in a lot of pain." Harry glanced up at the rest of the pub. "Anything that he says does not leave this pub." Everyone nodded. Harry glared down at the assassin.  
  
"Start talking." The assassin gulped.  
  
"I will never betray my master." He stuttered.  
  
"Then maybe this will loosen your tongue." Harry pressed his sword into the assassin's neck until a droplet of blood appeared.  
  
"Ok...Ok...I'll talk...I'll talk." The assassin took a deep breath, "My master has got a plan, I don't know the exact details, he doesn't tell us, but from what I've heard, he has found a spell or a potion that will make him invincible not only that but he has also found a potion that will increase the power of his spells by a hundred so Avada Kedavra won't kill just one person but a hundred at a time." Harry stood stock still, horrified, this was worse than they could possibly of imagined. The screams of fear from the rest of the pub echoed dimly in his ears.  
  
"You're not serious!" Harry's voice didn't sound like his own somehow, he could think of nothing else but; if Voldemort pulls this off then he's won. Harry sat down heavily on a chair. He thought for a minute and then a smile slowly formed on his face as he thought of a plan, it was a long shot, but it might just work, he thought to himself.  
  
He stood up and looked at the assassin.  
  
"You're going to deliver a message for me." The assassin looked wary,  
  
"What message?"  
  
"You're going to tell Voldemort that I know what he is up to, you're going to tell him that I am sick of having to put my friends into danger, tell him that his Death Eaters can expect mercy from people like Lupin or Dumbledore but they aren't going to get any from me. Finally tell him that Harry Potter is going to enjoy sending him to hell." The assassin looked terrified,  
  
"I'm not telling him that!" The sword dug deeper into the assassin's neck,  
  
"Sure?"  
  
"Ok, ok!" Harry lifted the anti-Apparition jinx and the assassin disappeared. Harry looked up and saw the entire pub staring at him in awe.  
  
"What?" Ron recovered quickly,  
  
"What's gotten into you, mate?" Harry laughed, but it wasn't a pleasant laugh but a laugh that chilled their bones,  
  
"I told you, I'm tired of putting my friends in danger." And with that Harry turned and swept out of the pub leaving an astonished silence in his wake.  
******  
  
The next few days passed without incident and then suddenly Harry was called to the Headmasters office along with Ron and Hermione completely out of the blue. They arrived there to see all the teachers along with the prominent members of the Order.  
  
"I am not going to waste time with the pleasantries, I will get straight to business. You all know what the assassin told us in the Three Broomsticks. We all knew about Voldemort's plot to make himself immortal but this is much worse. By increasing his power he could take over the world. The time has come to organise a plan, this has to be stopped at all costs. Does anyone have any ideas?" It came as a complete when Harry spoke up immediately. Everyone was momentarily frozen with shock but recovered.  
  
"Well? What is it?" McGonagall asked urgently. Harry smiled wryly,  
  
"Suicide."  
  
"What?" said McGonagall, taken aback.  
  
"Suicide. Here's what we need to do. Find out where Voldemort is hiding and get the book about the potions. The potions are obviously rare potions otherwise he would have come across them sooner. I reckon they will both be in one book. Get to where Voldemort is hiding, steal the book and get out. Voldemort won't be anywhere obvious though, or anywhere that's not easily defended. This is going to require a lot of people. I think this will end up being a full-frontal assault on somewhere that is easy to defend and virtually impossible to get into."  
  
Ron looked aghast,  
  
"That is suicide!" Harry turned and glared at him,  
  
"Have you got any better ideas?" he snapped. Ron looked even more taken aback.  
  
"No." Something clicked in Harry's mind; he turned to Snape eagerly,  
  
"Professor, you know where Voldemort is hiding, you've been there, where is it?" Snape shook his head sadly, his usual sneer completely gone from his face,  
  
"He doesn't let us outside, apart from the guards on the walls, but I can tell you this. It is a castle with strong walls on top of a high hill." Harry's spirits fell. This was exactly what he had expected. However, Hermione was one step ahead of Harry.  
  
"If you've never been outside, how do you know it is on a high hill."  
  
"I've heard the guards talking; they say things like 'the forest below looks even darker tonight.'" Harry smiled slightly.  
  
"At least we don't have to worry about where we Apparate or portkey to, we just Apparate or portkey into the forest." Dumbledore sighed and spread his hands on his desk.  
  
"I don't like it but it is the only plan we've got so we'll have to go with it. Dismissed." Harry, Ron and Hermione left with the rest of the adults who were talking in low, fast voices, no doubt worried about what they heard.  
  
Harry was just about to turn down a corridor leading to the marble staircase when a hand shot out and grabbed him. Harry turned round in astonishment and saw that it was Hermione who had grabbed him. She began pulling him down a different corridor.  
  
Harry looked into her eyes, tears were forming there and the fear was obvious in them,  
  
"What?" he asked. Hermione shook her head,  
  
"Did you honestly think that I, a bookworm as Ron puts it, don't know what a full-frontal attack will result in?" Harry sighed,  
  
"No, I didn't think you would know. I didn't think you would read books like that." Hermione glared at him,  
  
"Harry you know as well as I do that a full-frontal assault on a fortified, defensive position is suicide and yet you still think we should do it." Hermione was speaking in a hushed, angry voice. Something snapped in Harry and he grew angry aswell.  
  
"You think this is not making me feel guilty as hell, being the person responsible for the deaths of thousands of other people? I know that half the people who go there will never return, but it has to be done. Otherwise Voldemort will become invincible and for the rest of eternity the wizarding world will live in fear. Do you know what eternity means? It means forever, it means there is no end. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made. And believe me, I am being eaten up by guilt at having to be the one who makes them." They were arguing passionately in hushed voices.  
  
"Besides," continued Harry, "This isn't just about getting the book. Even if we fail we show Voldemort we know what he's up to, we show Voldemort we know where he is hiding and finally we show Voldemort that we are willing to go to any ends to defeat him."  
  
"Oh great, that makes it so much better. Thousands of witches and wizards die to tell Voldemort we know where he's hiding. Harry you are going to sentence your friends to death to tell Voldemort that we know where he is hiding."  
  
"Hermione you and the DA don't have to go. You know I would never force you to." Hermione shook her head impatiently,  
  
"Harry you know we would follow you to the ends of the earth." Harry flashed a grin at her.  
  
"Hopefully just to wherever Voldemort's hiding will do." Hermione laughed,  
  
"I'm just arguing because I'm worried." She explained. Harry's grin broadened,  
  
"I know, sometimes you can be so like Ron it's unnerving." Hermione hit him on the shoulder, "I just don't know why you don't just go and snog him senseless, a: It would shut him up, b: It would sort everything out, c: It would stop you two driving me insane trying to get you together." Hermione stood there looking stunned,  
  
"Harry Potter, you are going to get it." Harry was doubled over laughing so he couldn't move.  
  
"Admit it, you want to snog him senseless."  
  
"NO! No. I don't know. Maybe. Yes." Harry looked gleeful.  
  
"Just go and do it. He wants you to you know." Hermione looked doubtful; Harry sighed and decided to give up.  
  
"Alright, I'll leave you here to continue thinking that I'm lying, even when I can't possibly make it any clearer that I'm not and I will go and find someone who believes me." Harry turned and left.  
  
Harry walked in the direction of the Ravenclaw common room; it was only when he arrived outside it that he realised he didn't know the password. He stood there wondering what to do when, fortunately, the portrait began to swing open.  
  
Out stepped a fifth year and, upon seeing Harry, raised her eyebrows. Harry grinned sheepishly. She turned round and called into the Ravenclaw common room,  
  
"Cho."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Someone's here to see you."  
  
"Harry?"  
  
"Good guess." A minute later Cho appeared at the Portrait Hole.  
  
"Hey Cho, I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk."  
  
"Ok." Cho put her hand on the crook of his elbow and Harry felt the familiar tingling sensation at her touch. They began walking towards the double doors that led out into the grounds.  
  
They walked out into the grounds and simply enjoyed being in each other's company. In mid-spring Hogwarts grounds were even more stunning, the trees and the flowers were blooming and pinks, whites and reds were everywhere. Cho cast a sidelong glance at Harry,  
  
"How are you now? You were furious after that fight." Harry sighed,  
  
"I'm ok, but what that assassin said, it brought back a lot of painful thoughts." Cho risked the question she knew she shouldn't ask.  
  
"Like what?" Harry sighed again, deeper this time. He trusted Cho but this was a topic he didn't want to talk about.  
  
"He insulted my parents. I've been trying not to think about my parents...personal reasons." Harry's mind wandered back to what he had seen in Snape's pensieve. If what he had seen was anything to go by then James wasn't a man to idolise. He was a conceited, arrogant prat. Not thinking about them made that knowledge easier to handle, but still, when someone insulted them, it just made it worse. And now, knowing that in a few weeks he would be responsible for the deaths of thousands of witches and wizards. He just didn't want to handle life.  
  
He was snapped back to reality by the feeling of Cho's lips on his.  
  
"Whatever it is don't worry about it, you don't have to do it alone." Said Cho when they drew apart. Harry smiled sadly at her.  
  
"That's sweet of you to say Cho but I'm afraid it is something I have to handle alone." Cho kissed him again,  
  
"Then you won't be all alone in doing it. We'll all be here to help you where we can." Harry smiled at her,  
  
"I love you, Cho."  
  
"I love you too." They headed over to the lake. They stood there, Harry standing behind her with his arms encircled around her waist protectively. She leaned back and he was comforted by her familiar weight.  
  
They stood there saying nothing, not needing to say anything, watching the sunset, the dying sun casting an orange glow over the lake. For once in his life Harry was perfectly content with the world.  
  
He moved his head round and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. She was surprised at first, but snaked her arm around his neck and kissed him back eagerly. A few minutes later they pulled apart breathlessly.  
  
"We should be getting back." Said Harry. Cho grinned at him.  
  
"A few more minutes won't hurt."  
  
"No but," Harry murmured, already closing his eyes and leaning towards her, "We should still..."  
  
******  
  
Hermione and Ron waited patiently for Harry to return. They were just about to give up and go to bed when the Portrait Hole swung open and in walked Harry, grinning broadly.  
  
"Where have you been?" asked Ron sarcastically, "Oh wait! No need to tell me, I can guess."  
  
"Hi guys, snogged yet?" Ron and Hermione blushed slightly and several second-years began sniggering. Ginny looked up from the essay she was writing and shook her head exasperated.  
  
"Harry, give it up mate, nothing is going to happen." Said Ron slightly annoyed. Harry rubbed his chin thoughtfully,  
  
"Maybe I'm getting somewhere; you're actually talking about it. You know, Hermione was telling me something earlier that you might find quite interesting, Ron. She was telling me," at this point Hermione was shaking her head furiously at him, begging him not to tell him." Harry moved closer to her.  
  
"Don't forget about our deal. The longer you take, the more I embarrass you." Harry stepped back after saying that, "Hermione said that she would like to 'snog you senseless.'" Hermione and Ron turned identical shades of red, turned and sprinted into their respective dormitories leaving the laughter of the common room behind them. Ginny looked up from her essay,  
  
"That was harsh, Harry." Harry shrugged, he had warned them and they hadn't heeded it. Sighing Ginny stood up, walked over to him and dragged him out of the common room. Once out of there she turned on him angrily,  
  
"What are you playing at?" Harry shrugged again.  
  
"I warned them, I told them that I would embarrass them if I needed to."  
  
"Oh yeah? And you think that embarrassing the hell out of them will make them suddenly desperate to go out with each other? Harry you acted like a complete prat back there!" Harry grew angry as well,  
  
"Do you honestly think I give a damn how I acted? I am sick to death of seeing them sneak glances at each other when they think no one else is watching. I am sick to death of them moping around, feeling sorry for themselves when we can't make it clearer that they both fancy each other stupid! Maybe it won't make them desperate to go out with each other but it will show them that I mean business." And with that Harry turned and started walking back towards the common room.  
  
"Harry." Said Ginny exasperated without turning around, Harry stopped, "Listen, as much as we would like the to get on with it, this is annoying me too, sometimes we just have to let a river flow it's natural course otherwise it could have disastrous effects if we try to alter it." Harry sighed.  
  
"Ok, I'll trust you. But just this once."  
  
"Good." Ginny came up to him and kissed him on the cheek, "I'll see you tomorrow Harry."  
  
"Yeah, see ya." Harry stood outside the common room for a few more minutes before sighing and walking back into the common room.  
  
******  
  
Harry swung his sword in a downward arc. Lupin brought his sword up and blocked it. Harry swung his sword round to the right, again Lupin blocked it.  
  
"It's strange." Said Harry stepping back to avoid Lupin's lunge and then counter lunging.  
  
"What is?"  
  
"All the Death Eaters I've faced haven't been overly difficult to beat." Lupin snorted.  
  
"Yeah right, apart from the one that nearly killed you when you allowed him to stab you." Harry raised his eyebrows as he parried one of Lupin's swings,  
  
"You heard about that?"  
  
"Oh yeah. Loads of people heard about it. Dumbledore had to pull a lot of strings to stop The Prophet printing it." Harry swore silently.  
  
"Great, just what I needed, everyone to know about that." Lupin laughed.  
  
"I tell you why they haven't been particularly difficult, Voldemort's been testing you, getting to know your strengths and weaknesses. Although that last lot were better. I think that now that he knows you are good at fighting he is going to be sending better Death Eaters at you." Harry nodded, it made sense. They continued practising for a few more minutes before Lupin decided to call it a day.  
  
"You've done well today. I will see you tomorrow." Harry nodded.  
  
"Bye Lupin." Harry walked off towards the castle, there was just enough time to have a quick shower before the DA meeting.  
  
At five to eight Harry was sprinting down the corridor towards the Room of Requirement. After passing the place where the door was three times it finally appeared and he threw it open. Twenty faces looked up at him eagerly.  
  
"Before I say anything else I just want to say well done in the fight the other day. You did well and I'm proud of you. The DA's undefeated record stands firm."  
  
"Even if that was only our second fight." Ron spoke up grinning, obviously Harry's teasing hadn't come between their friendship. Harry winked at him,  
  
"Got to start somewhere, Ron." Ron laughed loudly.  
  
"True."  
  
"Right, let's get down to business."  
  
Before long the DA would need every spell they knew and every ounce of courage they could muster.  
  
Voldemort was in for a hell of a fight.  
  
A/N Ok, I'm really sorry that this has taken so long to update, Malaysia, school, life, everything has just been on top of me lately so I have not been able to get much written.  
  
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, the next one should be out in about a weeks time.  
  
Thank you very much for all your patience, it means a lot to me.  
  
Anime-Master7 – Thanks for the review.  
  
Colm – Don't worry, it will be.  
  
LogicalRaven – Where have you gone, my friend? I need your advice on this fic.  
  
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing.  
  
Fireboy 


	10. Hell's own Castle

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.  
  
The Second Darkness.  
  
Chapter 10: Hell's own Castle.  
  
The assassin Harry had freed followed Wormtail towards the central chamber. He was on the brink of being sick he was so nervous. In his head he kept going over the words he had to say to his master.  
  
They reached the central chamber and the assassin nearly collapsed with terror. Wormtail opened the double doors and the assassin followed him into it. Shaking with terror, the assassin walk towards Voldemort's chair and threw himself to the floor and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes.  
  
"Master...Master." He murmured. Voldemort stared down at him coldly,  
  
"Where are the rest of you?"  
  
"Dead, my lord, slain by Potter and his petty friends." Voldemort's eyes flashed with anger momentarily before resuming their normal coldness.  
  
"An unfortunate affair." For a second the assassin considered not passing on the message to Voldemort but then realised it was his duty to tell Voldemort that Harry knew what he was up to.  
  
"M-my Lord, Potter made me swear to pass on a message." Said the assassin, now visibly shaking in terror, Voldemort raised an eyebrow but said nothing,  
  
"He told me to tell you that he knows what you are up to, He is sick of having to put his friends into danger, Death Eaters can expect mercy from people like Lupin or Dumbledore but they aren't going to get any from him." Here the assassin paused, he took a deep breath before continuing, "and he told me to tell you that Harry Potter is going to enjoy sending you to hell."  
  
Gasps went round the room and Voldemort's face contorted in fury, one word and five minutes later and the assassin lay dead at his feet, killed by the pain of the cruciatus curse.  
  
******  
  
Amidst the screams of the dying assassin and the cries of encouragement, urging Voldemort on, from the Death Eaters lined along the walls Snape slipped out of the room.  
  
He wandered along the corridors, ducking into shadows whenever he heard someone approach, and searched for a way onto the battlements. After a few minutes of dead ends and wrong turns Snape found two large double doors. He opened them and slipped out into a courtyard.  
  
Straight in front of him were large walls, roughly thirty feet high, with Death Eaters patrolling atop them casting large beams of light like searchlights over the outlying land. He saw some steps leading up to the top of the walls.  
  
He ran towards them, taking care to stay in the shadows, and quickly climbed the steps. He glanced left and right and, satisfied that no one was close enough to see him in this darkness he stood up hurriedly and glanced over at the surrounding land. His heart sank as he saw nothing that could tell him what where they were or even what country they were in.  
  
He could see a dark forest below, he quickly did a four-point spell and found that he was facing south and to the west was a large lake, to the east there was a mountain range that stretched round to the north.  
  
He was forced to duck down into the shadows again as two Death Eaters approached; he listened carefully to what they were saying for any clues to where they were.  
  
"Bloody Scottish weather," one of them was moaning, Snape's spirits rose slightly and he moved closer to them to hear better." "Why couldn't we be somewhere warm like Cyprus or the Caribbean? Why the bloody Highlands? What's this godforsaken place called again?" He snapped at his mate.  
  
"Glendagle" The second Death Eater said in a bored voice.  
  
"Glen-bloody-dagle." The Death Eater looked down at the forest below, "That's a dark bloody place, what's that called?" The second Death Eater glanced at the pitch-black sky as if seeking help,  
  
"Glendagle Forest." He said in an even more bored voice. The Death Eater seemed satisfied for he said nothing else for a few minutes.  
  
"What time is it?" he asked the second Death Eater,  
  
"Midnight."  
  
"And when do we get off duty?"  
  
"One."  
  
"Another bloody hour!" Shaking his head, the other Death Eater turned and walked off. A few seconds later the second one followed.  
  
Amidst the sound of the thunder the 'crack' of Snape Disapparating could not be heard.  
  
******  
  
Snape appeared in Hogsmeade, just outside of the Three Broomsticks, and he sprinted towards the castle.  
  
He got to the double doors and threw them open and continued running towards the Headmaster's office.  
  
He gasped out the password, pear drops, to the stone gargoyles and sprinted up the stairs. Dumbledore, wearing a scarlet dressing gown with blue moons embroided on it, looked up in surprise,  
  
"Severus!" Snape took several deep breaths  
  
"I know where the Dark Lord's castle is!" Dumbledore looked even more surprised  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Glendagle, in the Highlands."  
  
"Wait here, there are people I need to get."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Minerva, Alastor, Lupin and Harry."  
  
"Potter?"  
  
"Yes, he is becoming more and more involved and I feel he has a right to know of this as soon as possible seeing as he has played a large part in the most recent events." Snape nodded reluctantly.  
  
******  
  
Dumbledore went and roused the adults before heading towards Gryffindor tower. He woke the Fat Lady and gave her the password before climbing the staircase to the boy's dormitories. He quietly pushed open the door. He crossed the room to Harry's bed and gently shook him.  
  
"Harry, wake up." Harry groaned as he woke. He blinked a couple of times before putting on his glasses. He groaned again before looking to see who had woken him, when he saw who it was he was awake in an instant.  
  
"Professor? What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing Harry, Professor Snape has found some extremely useful information that I feel you need to hear. Harry nodded and stepped out of bed. He began scrabbling around for his robes before remembering about his DA robes.  
  
"Indona Roba." His pyjamas were immediately exchanged for the DA robes. He checked his appearance in the mirror by the pale moonlight before following Dumbledore towards Dumbledore's office.  
  
They reached it and Dumbledore gave the password to the stone gargoyles and they walked up the revolving staircase.  
  
"Albus, what's going on?" asked McGonagall the moment they got into the room. Dumbledore smiled,  
  
"I'll let Severus explain." Snape stepped forward,  
  
"I have found out where the Dark Lord's castle is." Gasps of excitement went round the room and everyone started talking at once.  
  
"Where?" asked Harry, he alone had remained silent at the news, trying to think of a way to get into the castle, wherever it was.  
  
"It is in a place called Glendagle in the highlands. The forest below is called Glendagle forest. The castle itself is on a very high, very steep hill with a loch to the west of it, a mountain range stretching round from the east to the north and the castle faces south."  
  
"So it's virtually impregnable." Said Harry bitterly. Snape paused.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"What else do you know?" asked Dumbledore.  
  
"It is a wizard's castle." Harry looked surprised,  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"No gate. Instead it has a chamber that wizards or witches who the Master of the castle wants can apparate or portkey into." Harry nodded.  
  
"How high are the walls?" asked Lupin. Snape looked thoughtful,  
  
"Maybe thirty feet." Clearly he still hated Lupin by the sneer in his voice.  
  
"We know all we need to know, now let's concentrate on getting into it." Said Harry, a slight hint of anger in his voice that was directed at Snape.  
  
"What do you suggest?" Dumbledore asked Harry. Harry ignored the looks of surprise that were directed at him. Snape sneered,  
  
"As talented," Harry didn't like the sarcasm that was injected into the word 'talented', "as Mr Potter is, Headmaster, don't you think that you should be asking more experienced people?" Dumbledore looked down over his half-moon spectacles at Snape and paused before speaking.  
  
"As I seen to remember, it was Harry who planned the defence of Hogsmeade and prevented the Death Eaters getting into Hogsmeade and capturing him. I have faith in Harry's abilities. When you have a lamb in the flock that looks as if it will be a prize ram one day then you do well to guard that one and take extra care in training it and looking after it." Snape bowed to the Headmaster but not before casting a hate filled glance at Harry. Harry lent back against the wall and thought hard.  
  
"What do we know?" He said after a few seconds, "We know that the castle is on a steep hill, we know we can't get in by trickery, we know there is no gate, we know that we can Apparate or portkey into the forest." Harry looked round at them all. "I will tell you this. There is no need to have a ramp or a path leading to the castle if you don't have a gate and your allies can Apparate directly into it, so whatever we do it will involve scrambling up a steep slope. We are running out of time before the potions are ready so we have to make a decision quick. With all the wards and guards that castle will have there is no way we will get in by trickery so here is what I propose we do, muster as many men as we can, goblins as well, Apparate and portkey into the forest at night, get to the walls, breach them and just storm the castle, no prisoners, just kill them all. Find the book and get the hell out. Suicide: yes, any easier way of doing it: no." Harry shrugged, "That is my opinion." A stunned silence met the end of this speech. No one spoke for a few minutes and then Lupin recovered,  
  
"I agree with Harry. It will cost us many lives but in the long run it will save many more." Dumbledore looked round at everyone,  
  
"So we are agreed, we will do what Harry proposes?" Slowly everyone in the room nodded. Moody stepped forward,  
  
"It is suicidal but it is the only plan we've got and I for one intend to follow it through." Suddenly everyone was talking at once adding his or her opinions. Slowly Snape stepped forward and everyone fell silent. Snape glared round at them all before looking at Harry. He hesitated,  
  
"You kept them out of our castle, now get us into theirs." Harry flashed a grin at his potions master,  
  
"I'll get you in alright," he said, then his grin faded, "But I don't know how long I'll be able to keep you in."  
  
"We don't intend to stay too long, so don't worry." Said Lupin grinning. Dumbledore had remained quiet throughout all of this, clearly deep in thought.  
  
"Harry, I would like you to do one more thing for me."  
  
"Anything."  
  
"Our army will be split into three groups the left flank, the centre and the right flank. I will lead the right flank, Alastor shall lead the centre and I want you to lead the left flank." Harry's grin vanished,  
  
"What?"  
  
"I would like you to lead the left flank for me." Dumbledore repeated.  
  
"Why? I don't have any experience."  
  
"You led the DA in the defence of Hogwarts, you led the DA at Hogsmeade. I have faith you." Harry was touched by that but still protested,  
  
"That is leading twenty people, leading twenty is a lot different to leading three thousand! It's stupid to put someone so inexperienced in command of such an important mission! No, put someone like Lupin in command, it would be crazy to put me in command."  
  
"Lupin will be there to help you and how else do you get experience but by actually doing it." Dumbledore sighed, "You will not be the sole commander, there is Moody and I but I also want you in command for another reason, if people see you leading men against Voldemort then it will encourage them to fight, if they see the Boy-Who-Lived fighting, they'll fight. Little may you know it but you inspire people, you give them hope. If you fight, they'll fight. Besides I have faith in you, I believe you can do it." Dumbledore's words made sense and Harry suddenly felt a burning desire to prove to people that he could fight and he could lead men against Voldemort, he wanted to inspire people to fight against Voldemort.  
"All right, I'll do it." Dumbledore smiled,  
  
"I knew you would. Now, I think it is time for bed." Harry nodded. He said goodnight to everyone in the room before turning and walking down the revolving staircase. The moment he was out of earshot the other adults turned to Dumbledore.  
  
"Why did you put him in command of part of the army? The boy's right, it's stupid, he doesn't have any experience, this isn't some insignificant mission that it doesn't matter if we fail, this is important, this could determine the fate of the wizarding world for, lets face it, eternity." McGonagall demanded, Dumbledore sighed and spread his hands along the oak surface of his desk in a gesture of defeat.  
  
"I'm getting old, I'm not as young as I was and I'm not as strong as I used to be." McGonagall opened her mouth to protest, but Dumbledore held up one hand, "No, let me finish, I'm not as young as I used to be and I don't think I am going to live much longer. I think the final battle, when Harry and Voldemort will fight to the death, told in the prophecy will be my last."  
  
"Don't say that, Albus." Protested McGonagall.  
  
"No it's true, I think it will be my last and I need someone to succeed me, someone to be as powerful as I am. I think Harry will be that strong. To do that he needs to be strong and experienced in battle, so just trust me. If I am to die, it must be Harry who succeeds me." Everyone in the room fell silent each of them pondering what has happened, what is happening and what will happen.  
  
******  
  
Harry sat in Charms the next day thinking about what he heard in Dumbledore's office the previous night. He had resolved not to tell Ron and Hermione, he did not know why, all he knew was he wanted to be sure of what was happening before he told anyone else.  
  
He grunted as he felt Ron give him a sharp dig in the side,  
  
"What?" Harry asked him.  
  
"What's up? You seem really quiet and sad." Harry shook his head.  
  
"It's nothing, Ron. I just didn't sleep well last night." Ron nodded, satisfied for the moment at least. Harry made a half-hearted attempt at the calming charm they were practising. After a few minutes he gave up and went back to putting his head in his arms and staring aimlessly into space, turning the thoughts of last night over in his mind.  
  
He must have fallen asleep for the next thing he saw was Ron prodding him and the rest of the class leaving the room.  
  
"C'mon mate, lunch." Harry nodded and followed Ron and Hermione, who were bickering furiously under their breaths, out of the room and towards the Great Hall.  
  
In the Great Hall Harry didn't eat a thing. He sat there thinking. Ron and Hermione kept shooting concerned glances at each other and then talking in subdued voices.  
  
"D'you reckon this is something to do with Sirius? I mean, he's barely said a thing all day and he hasn't eaten at all." Asked Ron, Hermione took another look at Harry,  
  
"No, I don't think so, he looked depressed when he was thinking about Sirius. He just looks thoughtful now."  
  
"Should we ask him?"  
  
"Ask him what?"  
  
"What he's thinking about. It's the only way to find out." Hermione nodded. Ron turned to Harry tentatively.  
  
"Harry."  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"What's up, what are you thinking about?" Harry was silent for a long time and they began to think he was going to answer them and then he spoke. He had obviously been choosing his words carefully,  
  
"Dumbledore has made a decision concerning me and I think he is making a huge mistake. But there is nothing I can do about it. I have already said I would do it. I'll tell you more when I have worked it all out." Hermione and Ron nodded; they knew they had to be satisfied.  
  
Harry went back to thinking; it's stupid, so why's he doing it? He must know it is a mistake; we need to win this battle. Harry shook his head and began to eat, he would work it all out later. It made no sense to him whatsoever.  
  
******  
  
Harry lay on his bed that night, he could hear the other boys breathing deeply and Neville was snoring slightly meaning that he was the only one left awake. Sighing he stood up and put on his dressing gown before walking down the stairs to the common room.  
  
He sat in his favourite armchair in front of the fire, which was still burning, and stared into the flickering flames. Just last year, he thought to himself, I had sat in this exact same chair, talking to Sirius... Harry shook his head trying to clear that depressing thought. Sirius is gone, and there is nothing I can do about it. I'll just have to be content with the fact that when I die I will get to see him and Mum and Dad again.  
  
Harry turned his thoughts to more important matters; if Dumbledore has asked me to do this then it is obviously for a very good reason. Dumbledore knows how important it is or us to win this fight. Just because I can't see the logic behind it doesn't mean he can't, Harry sat up straighter, Dumbledore works in mysterious ways, he hasn't been wrong yet, I'll just have to trust him, Harry thought excitedly, he stood up and began to pace back and forth, Dumbledore has put me in charge for a good reason and I have to trust him. He needs a good leader, a strong leader. Not someone who is indecisive and unsure of whether he is doing the right thing. If I'm indecisive I'm more likely to make mistakes then if I'm sure of my position. It is up to the leader to inspire, and to inspire I have to be sure. Dumbledore put me in charge for a reason. So I'll trust him, I'll show him that Harry Potter can lead.  
  
Harry sat down on the armchair. Just a few minutes then I'll go back up to bed. He curled up on the armchair and that is how Ron and Hermione found him the next day, a content smile on his face.  
  
******  
  
Harry was sitting with Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Cho by the lake when Lupin and Moody walked up to them. Harry looked at them curiously and they nodded. He turned to his four companions,  
  
"Could you give us twenty minutes, guys?"  
  
"No problem, Harry." Said Hermione, they stood up and walked towards the doors to the castle, talking in low voices. Lupin and Moody came and sat opposite Harry.  
  
"What's up?" He asked them,  
  
"Bad news. Fudge isn't happy with the plan. He doesn't want to give us any Aurors." Said Lupin, Harry swore under his breath. This was the last thing they needed.  
  
"He's doing his usual pompous prat trick?"  
  
"Not exactly. For once he understands the importance of this and is fully prepared for it to go ahead but is worried it will cost us too many Aurors. You've said it yourself, it's going to cost us many lives."  
  
"So what do we do? We need the Aurors." Lupin shrugged,  
  
"Two options; convince Fudge to send the Aurors."  
  
"And the second?" Lupin shrugged,  
  
"Convince as many Aurors as we can to turn into renegades." Harry looked surprised,  
  
"That's possible?" This time it was Moody who answered.  
  
"It is. Many of the Aurors would prefer to be under Dumbledore's command than Fudges." Harry considered this,  
  
"How many would we turn?" Moody thought for a while.  
  
"Out of the five thousand in Britain? Half at least." Harry looked even more surprised,  
  
"That many?" Lupin smiled,  
  
"Believe it or not it is not just Dumbledore who would convince them to turn, but you as well."  
  
"Me?"  
  
"Yes, you. You are a symbol of hope to them. You would also convince them to turn."  
  
"What would happen if we had to turn them?" Lupin thought.  
  
"I think you know as well as I do that Fudge would turn against us. Enlist the help of foreign countries and begin hunting down all the renegades before turning against you and Dumbledore. We would not only be fighting against Voldemort but Fudge as well." Harry nodded.  
  
"That has to be our last resort, then." Lupin nodded.  
  
"It is."  
  
"So now we just have to figure out how to convince Fudge to give us the Aurors." Lupin nodded.  
  
"It's not going to be easy, though."  
  
"Is Fudge here?" Harry asked  
  
"In Dumbledore's office."  
  
"Let's go and pay him a visit." The three of them stood up and walked towards the castle.  
  
A/N I know that a few of you aren't going to be happy with the fact that Harry will be leading part of the army. That is how I would like it to be so I would be grateful if you would just bare with me. Nevertheless your opinions on my fic, whatever aspect, are always appreciated.  
  
I am sorry this is a day late – I had a problem concerning the floppy disk I use to save chapters on before uploading them on the computers in the IT room.  
  
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter will be out in a week.  
  
LogicalRaven – Don't worry, there will be a twist. I'm glad you're still here. Thanks for the review.  
  
Colm – Thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked it.  
  
The Enchantresses – Thanks for the review.  
  
Anime-Master7 – Thanks for the review.  
  
Sarah – I don't think I will get Ginny together with someone but I will try and stop making it look like she's hitting on him but just so you know – She's not, they're just good friends.  
  
Rocky235 – Thanks for the review.  
  
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing.  
  
Fireboy. 


	11. Fudge and The Goblin Council

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.  
  
The Second Darkness  
  
Chapter 11: Fudge and The Goblin Council  
  
Harry followed Lupin and Moody towards Dumbledore's office.  
  
"What happens if we try to turn the Aurors and find out that only a few will turn despite what we expect." Lupin shrugged,  
  
"We're in trouble. At a guess I reckon Dumbledore would try to convince Fudge that we were acting for the best, if Fudge refused to be consoled then we would probably end up fighting each other while Voldemort laughed his head of as two of his enemies destroyed each other." Harry nodded and said nothing else.  
  
They reached the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office and Lupin gave the password, and they climbed the revolving staircase to the Headmaster's office. Fudge was inside talking to Dumbledore vigorously while Dumbledore listened politely. When he heard the door open Fudge turned round,  
  
"Ah, yes - hello Harry." Fudge said distractedly before turning back to Dumbledore, "see here, Dumbledore, I cant risk all our Aurors, I'd be kicked out of office for even suggesting it!" Harry stared at Fudge disbelievingly, still angry with him for what happened last year Harry didn't particularly feel like being polite to him,  
  
"Is that all you care about? Staying in office?" Fudge turned around incredulously, stunned by Harry's insolence.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I said, is staying in office all you care about?" Fudge turned back to Dumbledore,  
  
"Is he meant to be in here?" Dumbledore nodded,  
  
"Yes, he is. Now, I'm sure Harry would appreciate it if you answered his question." Said Dumbledore pleasantly. Fudge turned back to Harry, slowly regaining some of his composure.  
  
"No of course not, it's just that as Minister of Magic I need the support of the Wizarding population." Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing,  
  
"Do you know what Voldemort," Harry ignored Fudge's flinch, "is trying to do?"  
  
"Of course! He's trying to become invincible and increase his power."  
  
"Then how do you intend to gain the support of the Magical population if Voldemort is running around killing everyone completely invincible?" By a mutual unvoiced agreement Moody, Lupin and Dumbledore decided to let Harry take control.  
  
"I don't intend to let him get that far."  
  
"How are you going to stop him if you won't fight? Do you think people are going to vote for you if you do nothing and let Voldemort win? Or if you give us the Aurors and let us fight?"  
  
"There has got to be another way!"  
  
"There is no other way."  
  
"Of course there is! There always is." Fudge argued.  
  
"There isn't." Fudge's face grew angry,  
  
"I have had enough of an impertinent sixteen year old who doesn't know what he is talking about talking to me like this!" Lupin stepped forward,  
  
"For your information, Minister, Harry does know what he's talking about." Fudge turned on him angrily,  
  
"Keep out of this!" Fudge turned to leave and walked towards the door, and for the first time in his life Harry decided to use his status as the Boy-Who-Lived. He stepped forward,  
  
"Minister, who do you think the Aurors would rather follow, the Boy- Who-Lived and Albus Dumbledore or Cornelius Fudge?" Fudges eyes widened as he realised what Harry was suggesting. For a moment he looked uncertain, and then he sagged, all the fight gone out of him. He knew he was beaten. He waved a hand dismissively,  
  
"Very well, you can have two and a half thousand Aurors. No more." And before any of them could reply Fudge had left the room. Dumbledore, Lupin and Moody all looked at Harry impressed.  
  
"I doubt we could have done it that easily without you." Said Lupin. Harry smiled,  
  
"It's all about knowing what to ask and knowing your opponents weaknesses. It was obvious that the only thing Fudge really cares about is staying in office. I just had to exploit that and I won." There was a few minutes silence as they savoured the relief that they wouldn't have to turn some of the Aurors into renegades.  
  
"Lupin if you wouldn't mind leaving us for a few minutes I need to say a couple of things to Harry and Alastor." Lupin nodded, bowed and left the room. When Lupin had left Dumbledore turned to Harry and Moody.  
  
"There is something I need you two to do. I have called a meeting with the Goblin leaders and their lieutenants later today. Seeing as you two will be leading part of the army each of you need to get three subordinates, your lieutenants. The Goblin Council will be later today, about five o'clock and tomorrow there will be a briefing." Harry and Moody bowed and left the room. Harry already knew who his lieutenants and he ran down to the lake where Ron, Hermione, Cho and Ginny would be.  
  
Sure enough he got there and saw them sitting under a tree. When Ron saw him he nudged the others and leapt up to greet Harry.  
  
"Twenty minutes! It's been forty-five minutes!" Harry grinned apologetically,  
  
"Sorry, something came up."  
  
"What?" Harry shook his head at him.  
  
"I'll tell you later." Ron nodded,  
  
"Ok but make sure you do."  
  
"Trust me, I won't forget this." They walked over to the girls. Harry and Cho immediately walked away to have some time alone. Ginny saw Ron watching them go.  
  
"Jealous?" she teased, Ron turned back to her.  
  
"Jealous? Of what?" Ginny jerked her towards Harry and Cho.  
  
"The fact that Harry's got a girlfriend and you haven't." Ron shook his head.  
  
"Not particularly, no. Why?" Ginny grinned,  
  
"Because you could have one if you wanted." Ginny looked pointedly at Hermione. Rn groaned and Hermione blushed.  
  
"Don't you start. I don't need you teasing us as well as Harry." Ginny nodded her head,  
  
"Ok. I won't tease you but don't forget, it isn't hard." The three of them sat talking for ten minutes. Ron glanced at his watch and realised that dinner was starting in a few minutes. He looked up at Harry and Cho and rolled his eyes. They were snogging and Harry's hand could be seen sliding up Cho's top. Ron stood up and started walking towards them.  
  
"Ron!" Hermione hissed angrily at him when she saw what he was going to do, "Don't you dare!" Ron merely waved at her over his shoulder. Hermione turned to Ginny,  
  
"Your brother is one of the most insensitive idiots ever to grace the earth." Ginny smirked at her.  
  
"So that's why you like him so much is it?" Hermione rolled her eyes.  
  
"Give it up, Gin, it's just getting annoying. Ok maybe we do fancy each other but just let us do what we want to do about it." Ginny nodded,  
  
"Maybe we're getting somewhere, Harry." She mused to herself under her breath. She glanced up to watch Ron.  
  
Ron grinned to himself as he approached the couple. Grabbing their collars he pulled them apart.  
  
"Come on." He whined, "Dinner."  
  
"Ron." Growled Harry angrily.  
  
"Yeah whatever Harry, come on." Ron said dismissively, Cho laughed as she got to her feet and walked off to catch up with Ginny and Hermione.  
  
"Well, isn't this a scandal. The great Harry Potter caught with his hand up a girl's top." Ron teased as soon as Cho was out of earshot.  
  
"Shut it Ron."  
  
"I can see the Daily Prophet headline now –"  
  
"You know, I'm still waiting for the day I catch you with your hand up Hermione's top." Ron shut up immediately.  
  
For some reason Ron ate dinner faster then he usually did, obviously eager to get somewhere. Harry, Hermione and Ginny ate theirs more slowly. After his third helping of steak and kidney pie, Harry decided to go back up to the Gryffindor common room with Hermione and Ginny.  
  
He gave the password to the Fat Lady and entered the common room to see Ron sitting with his back to the Portrait Hole and all the sixth year boys and girls and a few fifth years sitting opposite him, listening intently. Harry heard what Ron was saying and moved to stand behind him. Ron didn't notice he was so wrapped up in the story he was telling.  
  
"–And I walked over to them, yeah, and he had his hand right up her top, right up and –" at this point the eager faces turned to horror as they saw Harry standing there. Ron looked at them confused,  
  
"What?" His face turned to horror as he saw the shadow that had descended over him, he turned around slowly. He glanced up at Harry nervously,  
  
"Hello Harry! Good dinner?" his voice a nervous squeak.  
  
"Any last words, Weasley?" Harry growled at him. Ron jumped up but had barely got two steps before Harry tackled him to the ground. Ron rolled on to his back to see Harry standing over him, blind fury in his eyes.  
  
"Do you know why I don't mind doing stuff like that in front of you?" Ron shook his head slightly, "Because I trust you, because you're my best friend and I bloody trusted you to keep my secrets. Do you know what doing this means? It means I can't trust you." Harry's voice was low and furious but everyone could hear what he was saying. "How can you be my best friend if I can't trust you?" Harry turned and strode angrily away. Hermione glared at Ron.  
  
"God, you are so dense! Light must bend around you!" She yelled at him before running out of the common room after. Ginny came and knelt by Ron,  
  
"I don't know how in hell I got such an insensitive idiot for brother. Do you have any clue how bad this is?" She said angrily before following Hermione out of the common room. Ginny and Hermione caught up with Harry on the second floor.  
  
Beneath the fury Hermione could easily see that he was hurting. They dragged him off to a deserted corridor,  
  
"Listen Harry, forget about what Ron said, he's an insensitive prat."  
  
"He's meant to be my best friend! How can he do that to me!" Hermione sighed,  
  
"Harry, Ron doesn't think before he acts, he just does it." Harry shook his head,  
  
"You don't get it Hermione, this isn't some petty thing that I'm annoyed at, it doesn't really bother me that Ron is going around telling everyone what me and Cho were doing." Hermione looked confused,  
  
"Then what is bothering you?" Harry sighed and led Hermione to a window overlooking Hogwarts' grounds.  
  
"Hermione, what's out there?" Hermione looked even more puzzled but offered an answer anyway,  
  
"The grounds?" Harry shook his head,  
  
"My point proven. In one respect you are just like Ron. You only see what is right in front of you; you only concentrate on what is right in front of you. You don't look beyond what you can see. I will tell you what is out there. War. Hatred. Death. Fear. The reason I am so annoyed at Ron is because I can't trust him to keep my secrets." Hermione's face took on a look of dawning comprehension.  
  
"I get it now."  
  
"In a few days something big is going to happen, something in which a lot of people are going to die." Hermione looked puzzled for a moment and then she remembered,  
  
"The assault on Voldemort's castle."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Hang on, what assault?" Ginny interrupted, Harry swore under his breath, he had forgotten Ginny was there. He turned to her.  
  
"Ginny, just trust me, yeah? I will tell you at the DA meeting tonight." Ginny nodded and Harry turned back to Hermione.  
  
"I need Ron, I need to trust him. In war you need to be able to rely on your friends. I need to rely on Ron, I need to be sure he won't betray me or double cross me and if he can betray my trust over such a little thing then how can I trust him in the important things? I need Ron, now more than ever, I have made a huge decision that requires me to trust him more than I have ever done before."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'll tell you later. Listen; if you want me to trust Ron ever again you need to convince him to prove he can trust me. I'll be by the lake you have less then an hour." With that Harry turned and left.  
  
"Till what?" yelled Hermione after his retreating figure, Harry said nothing, he merely kept on walking. Ginny turned to Hermione curiously,  
  
"What do you think he meant by all that?" Hermione shook her head.  
  
"I don't know but that doesn't matter now. Harry's serious, we've got to get Ron to regain Harry's trust." Ginny looked at her perplexed,  
  
"How?" Hermione flashed a grin at her,  
  
"Trust me, I have an idea." Ginny nodded her head and followed Hermione along Hogwarts' many corridors; a thousand plans flashing through her mind. Unfortunately each one would take too long. She cast a sidelong glance at Hermione, who had a satisfied smile on her face. Ginny shook her head slightly; she would just have to trust her friend.  
  
To Ginny's dismay Hermione faltered outside of Gryffindor tower, evidently she was not so sure of her plan that she was one hundred percent sure that it would work. Hermione turned to Ginny, a reassuring smile on her face,  
  
"Oh well, here goes nothing." Giving the password to the Fat Lady she stepped into the common room to find it completely empty apart from one sad figure sitting head down in front of the fire with his back to them. His red hair gave him away immediately. Hermione crossed to him tentatively.  
  
"Ron?" Ron turned to her slowly,  
  
"Oh, hey Hermione." He said heavily. Hermione turned around and flashed a nervous grin at Ginny.  
  
"Ron, I reckon I have an idea of how to get you back in Harry's good books."  
  
"How?" Hermione hesitated, she wasn't as confident as she had tried to look and now that she was about to do it she wasn't actually sure that it would work. In fact, she was sure it wouldn't. She took a deep breath,  
  
"Apologise." Ginny snapped out of daydreaming and Ron looked up sharply,  
  
"What?!" They said in unison. Hermione looked at them nervously.  
  
"Well, if you just apologise then you show you can accept you have done wrong, you show that you're adult enough to accept responsibility for mistakes. Plus, what else can you do?" There was a slightly defiant edge to her tone when she said the last sentence, obviously she was still proud of her plan, whether it would work or not. Ron nodded and stood up slowly and heavily,  
  
"Well, might as well try." Ron walked out of the Portrait Hole, Ginny held Hermione back until Ron was safely out of earshot.  
  
"Hermione – that was your plan?!" Hermione nodded rather sheepishly, Ginny turned away,  
  
"Oh God, we're screwed, we're really screwed," She turned back to Hermione, "It will never work!" Hermione brushed off the last comment with a wave of her hand,  
  
"Have a little faith, Gin. It'll work." Hermione said, a lot more confidently then she felt, in truth she didn't thing it would work but she was not going to tell Ginny that.  
  
"Hermione – It will never work! Oh God, we're screwed!" Ginny did not stop muttering that until they got down to the lake. Ron was hovering some distance away from Harry and Harry was ignoring him. Hermione and Ginny wandered over to Ron,  
  
"Go on." Said Hermione, giving him a little push. Ron nodded, a slight greenish tinge to his cheeks. He walked determinedly over to Harry who looked up at him, Ron hesitated, Ginny turned away, she couldn't watch,  
  
"We're screwed." She said with even more conviction. Ron took a deep breath,  
  
"Harry." He said slowly, Harry turned and looked at him.  
  
"Yes?" There was no hostility in his voice or gloating, it was politely incredulous.  
  
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I was completely out of order, I have no idea why I did that, maybe it was for attention, I don't know. I just wanted to say I'm sorry and I know I shouldn't have done it, you had done nothing to deserve that and it was wrong of me to go round telling everyone. I fully understand about you not trusting me. I just wanted you to know I'm sorry." Ron turned to leave when Harry smiled up at him,  
  
"Don't worry, you're forgiven." Ron looked stunned then a huge grin appeared on his face.  
  
"Serious?"  
  
"Serious." Hermione stood and watched the two of them laughing and leaping at each other with a smile on her face almost as big as Ron's. Next to her Ginny had her back to the two and had her eyes closed muttering worriedly,  
  
"We're screwed, we're really screwed."  
  
"We're alright."  
  
"No we're not! We're – what?  
  
"We're alright." Ginny could have leapt for joy. Hermione saw Harry beckoning her over, all his playfulness gone,  
  
"Gin, I have to go now, I'll see you later." Ginny nodded and began walking towards the castle. Hermione ran towards Harry and Ron.  
  
"What?" she asked breathlessly,  
  
"We need to go up to Dumbledore's office."  
  
"Why?" Hermione asked him.  
  
"I'll fill you in on the details on the way there so let's go." On the way to Dumbledore's office Harry told them everything they didn't already know. He paused opposite a portrait of a stately looking witch and wizard. He didn't really want to tell Hermione that he had been put in charge of a third of the army but he knew she would find out sooner or later. After a seconds pause he told her. Hermione grinned at him,  
  
"Excellent, then at least we know we have a competent commander in charge." Harry stood still, stunned at her reaction.  
  
"You don't think it's stupid?"  
  
"No, why? Did you think I would've?" Harry considered this, he knew the answer of course, he just didn't want to hurt her feelings, eventually he decided to be blunt.  
  
"Yes." Hermione laughed,  
  
"I trust you Harry, I would rather have someone I know and trust leading me the someone I barely know." Harry was relieved to say the least. Having told them everything they continued down the corridor in silence. It was only when they reached the stone gargoyle that Harry remembered something.  
  
"Listen, I need three second-in-commands, I have decided on you two and Lupin, ok?" Without waiting for their response he gave the password to the stone gargoyle and walked up the revolving staircase and into Dumbledore's office with Ron and Hermione following him.  
  
Inside the office were the three Goblins, Dumbledore, Lupin, Moody, Tonks, Emmeline Vance and McGonagall. Harry walked over to Lupin and stood next to him with Ron and Hermione standing on his left. When the talking had died down Dumbledore stepped forward,  
  
"I will not waste time with pleasantries when time is so short, we are here to decide on one thing, how many Goblin warriors will we need for the assault on Voldemort's fortress. You all know about the assault, it will take place in two days time. Ragnok and I will not take part in the discussions, we will preside."  
  
Moody stepped forward and surveyed them all for a moment before speaking,  
  
"I say we take no more than half. We do not want to risk all of the Goblins if it goes wrong." Harry suppressed a snort with difficulty.  
  
"I would have thought it was obvious. We take all of them. The more warriors we have the less chance there is of something going wrong." A few voices spoke up in agreement. Moody shook his head,  
  
"Don't be stupid, we can't risk all of them. There will always be a chance of something going wrong. If we lose all our Goblin warriors then we will be at a serious disadvantage."  
  
"You're forgetting the point of this mission. To stop us being at a disadvantage, to give us an advantage. If we fail because we didn't have enough warriors to push through then we will regret it. We have one shot at this and you know it, Moody." Moody snorted scornfully,  
  
"Don't be stupid, boy, there is always another chance." Harry glared at Moody, his temper was reaching boiling point, the room was silent and still, everyone looking at either Moody or Harry.  
  
"Prejudiced against me because of my age now Moody? I'm not the one whose being stupid, I'm the one making the right decision." Moody stared at him incredulously, his surprised look slowly turned to anger,  
  
"How dare you speak to me like that." Moody growled.  
  
"Shut up Moody," Harry said scornfully, "We take all the Goblins. That's final." There was a sharp intake of breath at this, Moody's anger turned to fury,  
  
"I will not have anyone talking to me like that, least of all a sixteen year old fool who doesn't have a clue what he's on about." Harry grinned nastily,  
  
"Fudge tried that one earlier on and ended up giving me two and a half thousand Aurors after refusing to give me one." Harry taunted. Moody's patience seemed to snap and his wand rose. Ron and Hermione stepped in front of Harry without hesitation, their wands pointing at Moody. Lupin stepped forward,  
  
"Enough!" Moody, Ron and Hermione lowered their wands. "Good, now, the easiest thing to do is to take a vote. All in favour of taking all the Goblins raise your hands." Harry looked around the room, everyone apart from Moody, Dumbledore and Ragnok raised their hands.  
  
"Very well, all the Goblins it is, there will be a briefing tomorrow and we will depart the day after that." Said Dumbledore. Harry nodded and without a word left the room, Ron and Hermione following without a look back. Moody watched Harry's retreating back with great dislike. Lupin sighed and glanced at him.  
  
"You won't win, he isn't an ordinary sixteen year old. For one thing the DA are extremely loyal to him, Ron and Hermione even more so. You pick a fight with Harry and you pick a fight with the DA." Moody's frown faded,  
  
"I know. That's what unnerves me. I know I won't be able to win. He has a knack of making you see his point of view." Moody cast a sidelong glance at Lupin, "But if I remember correctly, so did James." Lupin nodded,  
  
"So did Lily. We had no chance from the start." Laughing and savouring the memories, Lupin left the room.  
  
A/N Ok, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I am sorry it is late, On Monday I had to go to an RAF museum as I am in the RAF section of the CCF (Combined Cadet Force) and on Tuesday I didn't have time, then my laptop and floppy disk decided to mess up. Next chapter will be out shortly, next Tuesday hopefully.  
  
If you would bear with me, I would like to take a minute of your time to explain a couple of things. Until now I have left you pretty much in the dark about why I sometimes miss update deadlines and why chapters take so long to come out.  
  
First of all I want to make one thing clear: I will never stop writing this fic until it is done. Then I will write the next fic all of it. I dislike writers who write half a story and then leave it because they get bored of writing it. I will not do that. I enjoy writing it and will not stop until the trilogy is finished.  
  
Second I would like to explain why updates take so long (at least in my eyes they take a long time) I am at a boarding school and do not have access to a computer all the time. During prep time, 7pm – 9pm (at boarding school homework is called prep) I do my prep and then I will write some of a chapter I'm currently doing on my laptop. That usually takes about a week. When a chapter is finished I save the chapter on a floppy disk and the next day I upload it using the computers in the IT room as I don't have access to the internet on my laptop, sometimes the IT room is closed or my floppy disk is playing up and I will not be able to upload so I will miss a deadline. If that happens then I am really sorry.  
  
LogicalRaven – I am not getting Ginny together with anyone, you must have misread something in the A/N of the last chapter. You're right, that is just Ginny's way. If you don't like it then I will try and tone it down slightly, but that is how I would like her to act so I apologise. Anyway your comment, as always, was useful so thanks.  
  
Anime-Master7 – Thanks for the review.  
  
Sarah – Thanks for the review.  
  
Pixielax06 – Thanks for the review.  
  
The Enchantresses – I can't promise anything, but none of the really important characters will die. Thanks for the review.  
  
Colm – Thanks for the review. 


	12. Preparing for the Assault

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.  
  
The Second Darkness  
  
Chapter 12: Preparing for the Assault  
  
Ron and Hermione followed Harry up down the corridor to the Great Hall. Harry was walking quickly and Ron and Hermione hurried to keep up.  
  
"That wasn't smart, Harry." Said Hermione. Harry shrugged and continued looking out of the window; the fading spring sun was casting an orange glow over the grounds. Harry stepped back slightly as a cold blast of wind blew in through the window,  
  
"For once she's right," said Ron, ignoring the smack on the arm Hermione gave him, "You don't want to be picking fights with people like Moody." Harry turned to face him,  
  
"I didn't pick the fight, Moody started it." Hermione sighed in exasperation,  
  
"Harry, he's your teacher, you don't argue with your teacher." Harry looked at her as if she was crazy,  
  
"He was making a stupid mistake, the fact that he's my teacher doesn't matter, I couldn't let him make that mistake." Hermione considered this for a moment and eventually she relented,  
  
"Still, you shouldn't have argued in like that." Harry turned away and gave a small shrug,  
  
"I guess you're right," he allowed, "But he provoked me."  
  
"Anyway, it doesn't matter now." Interrupted Ron, seeing s frown on Hermione's face as she tried to make Harry see her point of view. Harry turned back to them.  
  
"No, there's one more thing. Thanks." Ron and Hermione looked puzzled, they glanced at each other and then back at Harry,  
  
"What for?" asked Ron, a puzzled frown on his face.  
  
"For being so loyal, for stepping in front of me like that when Moody threatened me, for daring to point your wand at a teacher." The last remark was directed at Hermione and there was a faint teasing tone to it. For a moment she frowned and looked slightly hurt until she saw the funny side and joined in Harry and Rons' laughter.  
  
They walked into the Great Hall and sat down in their usual place, Harry was reaching for the roast chicken when he suddenly remembered something.  
  
"Damn!" Ron looked up from where he was buttering himself a roll,  
  
"What?" He asked  
  
"We need a DA meeting tonight but there is no time to arrange one now using the Galleons" Hermione looked thoughtful,  
  
"Couldn't we postpone it until tomorrow?"  
  
"No." Said Harry firmly, "We need it tonight." Hermione sighed wearily,  
  
"Ok, let's start spreading the word." Harry leaned round the back of a third year to speak to Dean,  
  
"Dean, DA meeting in half an hour, spread the word." Dean nodded and lent across the table to tell Seamus who then turned to Neville and told him. Gradually the word got passed around the Great Hall with pupils from different houses crossing over to their friends to tell them.  
  
Even amongst the loud chatter and the normal movement in the Great Hall as people leaned over tables to talk to their friends or reach for more food Minerva McGonagall still noticed a curious ripple running through the Great Hall that seemed to begin at the centre of the Gryffindor table and spread outwards.  
  
"What do you think that is?" She asked Dumbledore curiously,  
  
"The DA at work." Minerva looked surprised,  
  
"How do you know?" Dumbledore surveyed her over his half moon glasses.  
  
"You don't live as long as I have and not pick up on a few things." He said, chuckling slightly, "See where it starts." McGonagall looked over to the Gryffindor table, sure enough, sitting in the centre were Harry, Ron and Hermione. McGonagall shook her slightly,  
  
"I should have guessed." She said, slightly annoyed that she hadn't spotted that. Dumbledore chuckled again,  
  
"Yes, you should have."  
  
------------  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione left the Great Hall and headed straight up to the Room of Requirement. Harry was planning what to say to the DA and Ron and Hermione were bickering under their breaths. The familiar feeling of anxiety settling in his stomach as it always did before a fight, this one ten times worse as he was leading more people, he snapped at them,  
  
"Just shut up." He said heavily. Ron and Hermione looked offended for a moment but then relaxed,  
  
"Sorry." They reached the Room of Requirement and a few minutes later they were sitting inside waiting for the rest of the DA to arrive, Ron cast a sideways glance at Harry,  
  
"Are you going to tell them right away." Harry nodded, he would not keep secrets from the DA for any longer then he had to. He stood up and began pacing up and down the room. Ron and Hermione watched him anxiously. He kept stopping and running his hands through his hair. He turned to them, his face worried,  
  
"How do I tell twenty people that I am about to send half of them to their deaths?" Ron and Hermione looked shocked,  
  
"Well, you might not be." Said Hermione not sounding convincing. Harry gave a nervous laugh,  
  
"Come on, Hermione! You know as well as I do that this won't be a walk in the park." Hermione looked at Ron desperately for help, Ron held up his hands looking alarmed,  
  
"Don't look at me!" At that moment Dean and Seamus followed by Parvati, Lavender and Padma came through the door; Harry sent Ron and Hermione a look warning them to keep quiet. Harry watched with increased nervousness as more of the DA trickled through the door. Eventually everyone was seated and were looking up at Harry expectantly. Harry stepped forward. He looked round at them before speaking. The words he had gone over in his head didn't seem adequate anymore; they seemed pointless. Instead the words he spoke were the words that came from the heart,  
  
"I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to twist the truth to make it sound any better, to make it easier to handle, I'll be blunt," The DA looked around at each other apprehensively, Harry hesitated, he took a deep breath before continuing, "We've found Voldemort's castle, we're assaulting it in two days time." Gasps of horror went round the room and everyone started talking at once. Eventually it subsided although everyone was pale and shaking violently. Harry closed his eyes, not wanting to tell them the rest, knowing he had to and hating himself for it.  
  
"That's not all. I know what the lie of the land is like, I know how high the walls are, I know a lot about it and I will tell you this..." Harry voice faltered, scaring the DA even more, Harry took a deep breath and continued in a stronger voice, "I will tell you this, I do not expect half of you to return." Harry closed his eyes, trying to block out the screams and gasps of fear in the room. Although he was determined to be blunt, he also knew he would have to reassure them. He held up a hand for silence, when everyone was silent again he began to speak, "Theoretically. There will be two and a half thousand Aurors, six thousand Goblins and Lupin said that something like five hundred members of the Order were going aswell so there is a chance that none of you will die. But it is only a small chance so don't be dependant on it. But we got lucky at Hogwarts and at Hogsmeade so maybe we'll get lucky again." He looked around again, gone were the normal looks of determination that were usually there before a battle instead were looks of fear, panic and desperation. Harry shook his head, trying to clear it,  
  
"I will not insist that you fight, but if you want to fight please stand up and walk over here." Whatever Harry had expected it was not what happened. Every one stood up immediately and walked over to Harry without hesitation. Harry felt a lump in his throat, to see them standing there, all on his side, all of them loyal to him, all ready to fight for him and, if necessary, to die for him.  
  
He stood back from the group,  
  
"There will be a briefing tomorrow and we will assault the castle the day after that. Good luck." He smiled at them, "Give them hell." He then turned and strode from the room.  
  
------------  
  
Harry woke up the next morning a feeling of dread in his stomach, he got up and slipped his dragonskin armour over his head and put on his sword belt. He slowly walked downstairs his mind filled with what would happen in the next forty-eight hours.  
  
Down in the Great Hall Ron's greeting was more subdued then it usually was and he was looking very sick. Harry sat down opposite him and helped himself to some bacon and sausages but found that it was difficult to chew or swallow them. He put his knife and fork down and looked around the Great Hall, it seemed impossible that people could be so happy and eat normally when, in less then forty-eight hours hundreds if not thousands of people will have died, including about ten students.  
  
At that point Hermione entered the Great Hall, her hair was even more dishevelled then it usually was in the mornings and there were dark bags under her eyes, showing she had not slept last night.  
  
"Morning." She greeted, her voice hoarse and lacking emotion. Harry and Ron nodded at her. They ate what they could in silence. Ron looked up at Harry,  
  
"It's final, isn't it? It's going to happen." Harry nodded; he knew he had been living in denial before the DA meeting and by announcing it last night it seemed like it had been made inevitable. The bell rang for lessons and they gathered up their school bags and Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way to Defence Against the Dark Arts.  
  
It came as no surprise to Harry that the rest of the DA looked as sick and scared as he felt. In class Moody was even more bad tempered than usual and even shouted at Parvati Patil for dropping her quill on the floor. None of the DA learned anything in Moody's class, each of them lost in their thoughts. Surprisingly Moody didn't shout at them for that. On the pretence that he had forgotten his quill Harry doubled back to speak to Moody after the bell had rung, signalling the end of class. When Harry approached his desk Moody looked up from where he was marking some work.  
  
"Hello Potter." He said gruffly.  
  
"Hello, sir. I just wanted to know when the briefing was." Moody sighed and put down his quill, which immediately sprung up and began marking the work of it's own accord. Moody looked at it surprised.  
  
"Damn, I forgot it did that, well, that's just saved me a lot of time. Wish I'd remembered before I started marking though. Anyway, sorry Potter, what was your question?"  
  
"When's the briefing?"  
  
"Five o'clock. Dumbledore's office."  
  
"Thanks." Harry turned to leave, but Moody called him back. For a fleeting second Harry thought Moody looked slightly embarrassed, as if what he was about to say wasn't natural for him. That was gone in a second and Moody looked his usual, grim self.  
  
"Good luck, Merlin knows, we're going to need it." Harry smiled,  
  
"You too, Moody."  
  
------------  
  
The rest of the day passed in a blur of nerves, Harry didn't hear a word in any of his lessons, but none of his teachers punished them, not even McGonagall when she caught Harry staring aimlessly out of the window for the seventh time.  
  
The bell rang announcing the end of their final lesson; charms, and Harry's nerves doubled and his stomach gave a funny lurch. He had an hour before the briefing. Harry, Ron and Hermione caught each others gaze and the three of them grinned weakly at each other. Having nothing better to do and feeling too sick to find anything, the three of them wandered around the castle together, saying little, each of them lost in their thoughts. At quarter to five Harry turned to them.  
  
"Come on, let's go." Dumbledore's office was about as far away as it could possibly get and they spent a terrifying ten minutes walking towards it, the feeling that they were walking towards their fate increasing with every step.  
  
The three of them hesitated opposite the stone gargoyle. Harry smiled at them reassuringly before giving the password in a stronger voice then he expected. They climbed the revolving staircase and entered the room to find everyone staring at them, most of them looking ill. Only Dumbledore looked calm.  
  
Inside were Dumbledore, Lupin, Moody, Tonks, Emmeline Vance and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Tonks, Vance and Shacklebolt were obviously Moody's subordinates. Lupin smiled weakly at Harry as he entered, Harry smiled back. A few minutes later everyone was settled and were looking at Dumbledore expectantly. The old man cleared his throat.  
  
"We are all gathered now, so I will get straight to the point, this will only be a short briefing. To assault Voldemort's castle we have six thousand Goblins," Here Moody shot Harry a nasty glare, Harry could not resist smirking back, "Two and a half thousand Aurors, Five hundred Order members and the twenty-one members of the DA. This is how we shall split the forces up, Harry and I will both have two hundred and fifty members of the Order, two thousand Goblins and seven hundred and fifty Aurors. Harry shall also have the DA. Alastor will have two thousand Goblins and one thousand Aurors. The main thing that, even if our army is split under three commanders, we operate as one. To start advancing I will send up blue sparks when I am ready, Moody will send up blue sparks when he is ready and Harry will send up green sparks when he is ready. In that order. The moment Harry sends up green sparks we begin advancing." Everyone nodded and Dumbledore paused for a moment to give people time to ask questions.  
  
"When we get there and start advancing up the slope, be extremely quiet, we want to get as close as we can before the spells start flying. One more thing, the walls must be cleared before we breach, otherwise we get in and we will find ourselves being attacked from every side" This, Harry did not agree with, if Voldemort was receiving reinforcements every minute then it would be difficult to keep them clear long enough to breach them. However every else was nodding their heads and looking at him expectantly; so he decided to trust Dumbledore and nodded his head.  
  
"One final thing, we will leave for Voldemort's castle at ten. All forces must be assembled at seven in the grounds." Dumbledore straightened up and surveyed them all.  
  
"This is it. With a lot of luck this could be the battle that wins the war. Or loses it. Good luck to you all Ladies and Gentlemen." With that everybody turned and left the room their heads filled with hope and fear. Dreamless sleep potions would need to be handed out that night. When fate comes calling it doesn't come quietly.  
  
------------  
  
Harry woke the next morning and was almost sick. Fear and dread flooded through him, he lay in his bed and closed his eyes willing himself to wake up and find that it was all a dream,  
  
'Yeah, but still this is a huge opportunity for us' He thought as he dragged himself out of bed. He crossed the room to Ron's bed. For a minute he didn't want to wake him, he looked so peaceful. Eventually he shook Ron gently, Ron grimaced as he woke, remembering what was going to happen.  
  
"C'mon, breakfast." Harry said in a dispirited tone. Ron looked as though he was going to refuse, and Harry didn't blame him. The thought of food made Harry's stomach turn as well. Eventually Ron groaned and climbed out of bed. He hurriedly tried to put some robes on. It took Ron a few minutes to realise that he was trying to force his legs through the arms and his arms through the legs. It would have been comical had it been under different circumstances.  
  
Ron finally managed to get his robes on correctly and Harry and Ron walked down to the common room to find a very impatient and ill-looking Hermione waiting for them.  
  
"Morning." Harry greeted her dully.  
  
"Morning, Harry" she replied. Ron smiled at her weakly. The three of them walked down to breakfast. Outside of the Great Hall Harry paused. Taking a few deep breaths Harry tried to calm himself. Ron and Hermione looked at him curiously. Harry flashed them a grin that failed to hide his nervousness.  
  
"I don't want the DA to be more worried because I look scared." After a few seconds Harry opened the door and strode into the room. He sat down opposite Ginny who was toying with her food, not eating a mouthful. She smiled at him feebly, and then she looked surprised and stared at him,  
  
"Aren't you scared?" she asked astonished. Harry nodded,  
  
"Yes." He said shortly, his voice empty of emotion. Ginny continued to stare into his eyes searching for any sign of what he was feeling, but they were unreadable. She shook her head.  
  
"You'll never cease to amaze me." She said in wonder. Harry laughed slightly. He began to eat what he could before the bell rang for the beginning of lessons.  
  
------------  
  
The day passed in a blur. It passed much too quickly for Harry's liking, even potions and Snape breathing down his neck and scrutinizing his every move did not make it go any slower. There was one benefit of being a few hours away from possible death though, Harry registered dimly as he was gathering his things together after potions, Snape doesn't, or isn't allowed to, take points for mistakes, probably the latter...  
  
Harry's weakening solution, which was meant to be electric blue, had turned out sky blue instead, Snape had stared at it looking desperate to deduct points but didn't. He merely shot Harry a nasty look before glaring at Dean and looking at his potion. Harry put his stuff in his dormitory before hurrying down to the Great hall with Ron and Hermione following him. They got there and none of them registered that something was different. They opened the door and instead of the usual noise of people talking and the chink of cutlery on plates there was a low droning noise of people talking in low voices. No delicious aroma hit them, the house tables were bare. Dumbledore was standing up at the front, waiting for the Great Hall to fill. A few minutes after Harry, Ron and Hermione had sat down Dumbledore seemed satisfied and clapped his hands together for silence.  
  
"I have some good news. Voldemort's castle has been found." There were yells of excitement and joy, people were overwhelmed. This was the best news they had heard in a long time. Hope flooded through people and several people were crying with happiness, for the first time there was a chance. 'Idiots,' thought Harry bitterly, 'they should know that it's not over yet, there's no guarantee that we will succeed, nor will this come cheaply.' Dumbledore waited politely for their excitement to die down before continuing.  
  
"The castle will be attacked tonight by nine thousand of our troops. There is hope in sight." Everybody apart from the DA and a few Slytherins let out a hearty cheer. Dumbledore paused, he flicked his gaze towards Harry, back to the rest of the students and then he let it rest on Harry. Harry understood instantaneously. He shook his head slightly. Only Ron and Hermione noticed. Ron bent over the table,  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Dumbledore wanted to know whether I wanted him to tell the rest of the students about us going off to fight. I said no." Ron looked surprised,  
  
"When did you become so perceptive?"  
  
"When I realised it could save my life in battle." Came the simple reply, Ron flashed a teasing grin at him,  
  
"Moody would be proud of you." Harry could not help but laugh. Evidently Dumbledore had finished speaking as the tables suddenly groaned under the weight of all the food that appeared. Harry turned to Ron and Hermione.  
  
"Eat as much as you can, it's going to be a long night." They nodded. Harry forced himself to eat his way through three helpings of roast beef even though with every passing second he felt sicker and sicker. He was just about to take some chocolate sponge when he caught Dumbledore's eye. Dumbledore nodded. Harry's stomach gave a terrible lurch.  
  
Dumbledore stood up and once again clapped his hands for silence. People looked up curiously.  
  
"There is something that I omitted to mention earlier. I will mention it now. But first I will tell you this. Our army is about to form up, we will attack Voldemort in a couple of hours." Harry was stunned,  
  
"He isn't, I told him not to, so why is he telling them?" He muttered to himself. Dumbledore looked at Harry and nodded, knowing what he meant Harry sighed and stood up and the rest of the DA followed suite.  
  
"Joining our army will be Harry Potter and the DA. It is time to say our goodbyes, for there is high chance that many of them will not return." Not wanting to hear any more Harry began walking out of the Great Hall, a deathly silence descended, people stared at them, horror written all over their faces, and then somewhere in the Great Hall someone cheered, then other people joined in. Soon everyone in the Great Hall was screaming and cheering. Harry paused, he must have misheard, but there it was again. Somebody was yelling his name, and soon everybody in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff who wasn't in the DA was screaming his name, Harry could not help but smile. He turned around and took out his wand, muttering a few words, a second later large emerald words slowly formed in the air,  
  
THE DA SHALL NOT FAIL YOU; EVEN IF WE DIE WE WILL DIE FIGHTING. WE SHALL SEE YOU AGAIN WHETHER IT IS IN THIS LIFE OR THE NEXT.  
  
HARRY POTTER AND THE DA.  
  
Harry led the DA out of them room to the loudest cheer yet.  
  
------------  
  
Harry led the DA out of the Entrance Hall and out into the grounds. Dusk was falling and there was a cool breeze. Harry formed the DA up in six columns, three ranks deep facing the castle. Hermione and Ron stood side by side slightly in front of them, with Harry in front of them. They waited. A few minutes later Dumbledore and Moody came out with a few members of the Order. He and Moody were the only teachers at Hogwarts who were going to fight. The rest had to stay and run the school.  
  
Harry moved forward to speak to Dumbledore.  
  
"How long till the Aurors arrive?"  
  
"Not long, ten minutes at most." There was a constant trickle of members of the Order in their pale blue robes arriving from Hogsmeade. Half of them ran towards Harry whilst the other half ran towards Dumbledore who was standing a few hundred yards away to his right. After a few minutes the trickle of Order members stopped altogether. Harry stared around the grounds; behind him the DA shuffled their feet, patiently awaiting the arrival of the Aurors. The sky was beginning to darken.  
  
Harry stared once more down the road towards Hogsmeade. In the distance he thought he heard the distinct 'crack' of someone Apparating followed by several others in quick succession but he couldn't be sure. He could hear the Aurors arriving before he could see them. The crunch of gravel under their boots as they ran up the road alerted everyone to their presence. A few minutes later a steady stream of Aurors were running into the grounds. Ron leaned forward to speak to Harry,  
  
"There's a lot of them, isn't there?" Harry laughed,  
  
"The bad thing is that it won't seem that way when we're fighting." There was a lot of shouting and shuffling of feet as the Aurors fell in. After half an hour everything was still. Dumbledore stepped forward; he beckoned to Harry and Moody. Harry began walking over to him fully aware that hundreds of people were watching him.  
  
The three of them walked a little way off. Dumbledore smiled at them reassuringly.  
  
"This is it then, we will depart in about an hour. The goblins are already waiting for us. Harry, you will have Ragnok and his warriors, Alastor you will have Lenwok and his warriors, I shall have Karvuk and his warriors." Harry and Moody nodded, Harry remembered Lupin saying something about Ragnok's warriors being the best. He snapped out of his daydream to hear that Dumbledore was saying something.  
  
"Go and talk to your men, fire them up, give them confidence, if they see you are confident then they will be confident as well. You will have no time when we are in the forest; we will need to be absolutely silent. Also give your subordinates their orders. Well, this is it. Good luck, gentlemen." The three parted, Harry walked over to where Lupin, Ron and Hermione and Hermione were standing.  
  
"Right, I'll keep this short. One hour until we leave. Also, when we get there and we get fighting, I need you to be my eyes and ears, I can't be everywhere at once, if you think something needs doing you do it, ok?" They nodded, "Good. Let's do this." They smiled at him,  
  
"Don't worry, we will." Said Ron. Harry grinned at his best friend. Lupin, Ron and Hermione fell back in line. Harry began pacing up and down in front of his section of the army, many of them looked nervous and in desperate need of reassuring, however, a fair few of them were shooting him distrustful looks, as if they didn't want him in command, 'fire them up' he thought, 'how the hell am I meant to do that?' He took a deep breath and paused in front of them.  
  
"I'm your leader. Me. Harry Potter, sixteen years old. Surprised? Me too. I tell you what you're thinking; you're all thinking; what the hell are they doing putting an inexperienced sixteen year old in command?!" He said forcefully, slightly angrily. He did not know why he was angry but he was. Harry saw that many of them looked slightly embarrassed and failed to meet his gaze.  
  
"You want to know how I know this? Because that's what I'm thinking. But what are you going to do about it? I don't give a damn what you think you're going to do in this battle, I'll tell you what you're going to do. Just because I'm young, doesn't mean I'll be pushed around, I'll tell you what I'm going to do, I'm going to go out there and kick the shit out of Voldemort and his Death Eaters." Harry fervour was rewarded by a loud cheer, 'sod firing them up, I'm firing myself up' Harry thought, "Why? Because Voldemort murdered my parents. And I don't intend to let him get away with that much longer. So lets go out there and give him what's coming to him. Hell." Another loud cheer, even louder than the first, many of the Aurors looked more confident, but Harry was not done yet,  
  
"The wizarding world's watching us, boys" Harry taunted, "You think Fudge will keep this quiet? So let's make them proud. Who says we're going to win, we might not. But if we don't win then let's go down fighting, let's go down showing Voldemort that his time is nearly up. Why? BECAUSE WE ARE AURORS!" Harry yelled, the loudest cheer yet echoed through out the grounds, "BECAUSE WE ARE THE ORDER!" Another loud cheer, "AND BECAUSE WE ARE THE DA!" A deafening cheer came from them. Harry grinned wryly, "So let's go out there and give them what they deserve, let's go out there and make the wizarding world proud, let's go out there and scare the hell out of Voldemort. LET'S GO OUT THERE AND FIGHT LIKE HEROES!" Harry paused and grinned at them, "Because that's what we are, boys, heroes."  
  
The loudest cheer yet, and not just from Harry's men, but from the entire army. A long time before everyone had stopped listening to their commanders and had started listening to Harry. They were well and truly fired up.  
  
And Voldemort would know fear.  
  
And the Wizarding world would be made proud.  
  
And Harry's army would give them hell.  
  
Because they were heroes.  
  
A/N I hope you enjoyed that chapter, next chapter is the assault.  
  
Any Harry/Ginny fans out there? After I have finished the trilogy, not before, I will do a Harry/Ginny fic called "When Dreams Come True." It should be good, I have been planning it for a long time, it also has an exceedingly happy ending.  
  
Next chapter will be out in about a week.  
  
LogicalRaven – Thanks for the review.  
  
Roselynn Geigel – Thanks, that was an encouraging review.  
  
Anime-Master7 – Thanks for the review.  
  
Colm – Thanks for the review.  
  
The Enchantresses – Don't worry they'll be together soon. More romance between Harry and Cho will be in the next fic. Though there will be some more in this one.  
  
Pixielax06 – Thanks for the review.  
  
The Phoenix King – Thanks for the review. This is fanfic, this is where we make what we want to happen actually happen. As unrealistic as it may be there is not a lot I can do. The plot is set out and you're just going to have to roll with it. Please don't think I am angry with you. It was a helpful review.  
  
FSI – Thanks for the reviews, they were really encouraging.  
  
DDG – Thanks for the review.  
  
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing.  
  
Fireboy. 


	13. The Assault

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.  
  
The Second Darkness  
  
Chapter 13: The Assault  
  
Harry stood still in shock when he realised how many people were staring at him. Gone were the doubts of the Aurors that this boy couldn't lead them. Harry fought down a blush as he walked back to the DA, they grinned broadly at him as he approached and he smiled weakly back. Dumbledore stepped forward,  
  
"It is time for us to leave, we will be using portkeys to get there as this is the one time we don't want anyone to splinch themselves. After Harry's excellent speech," Harry blushed even more and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, "All that is left to say is good luck and fight well." Dumbledore waved his wand and hundreds of portkeys appeared in front of them. Everyone managed to get a finger to them and after a few seconds of waiting with bated breath they felt the familiar tugging around their navels and then a few seconds later they appeared in the forest.  
  
The first thing that hit Harry was the darkness. It was pitch black. He could barely see his hand in front of his face. After a few minutes his eyes adjusted to the dark and he could things that were very close. The next thing that hit him was the silence. Apart from the breathing of thousands of witches and wizards that sounded like the wind he could hear nothing else, but through the occasional openings in the forest roof he could see flashes of lightning.  
  
He could hear that everyone was beginning to move so he began to move as well; the undergrowth was thick and several times he stumbled over roots or thick shrubs and nearly fell. From the muttered curses from the people surrounding him it seemed that he was not the only one.  
  
The silence and the darkness was unnerving, Harry jumped when he saw figures appearing in the darkness, he tightened his grip on his wand, convinced that it was Death Eaters preparing to ambush them. After a few seconds he remembered it was the Goblins and felt foolish. The darkness really played tricks on your mind. Slowly they began falling in amongst the Goblins, Harry wandered up and down calling Ragnok's name softly, eventually a gruff voice answered,  
  
"Here." Harry walked over to him; he explained the plan to him, Ragnok nodded before turning to translate for his Goblins. Whilst walking back towards the DA Harry made a sudden decision.  
  
"Ron." He hissed into the darkness. Nobody answered, "Ron!" He hissed again, suddenly he felt someone tap him on the shoulder and he jumped about a foot into the air.  
  
"What?" asked Ron in an amused tone but beneath the amusement there was a nervous tremor.  
  
"Don't do that!" Harry hissed at him angrily, "Are you trying to give me a heart attack!"  
  
"Sorry." Replied Ron, not sounding it at all. Harry dragged him away from the rest of the army.  
  
"Listen, you need to tell Hermione how you feel about her." Ron groaned,  
  
"Not now, Harry, this isn't the time to take the mickey."  
  
"I'm not! Ron, this may be your last chance! You don't know what is going to happen to you or her tonight! You could die, she could die! How would you feel in your last moments knowing that you had never told her how you felt about her?" Even in the darkness Harry could see that Ron had paled.  
  
"You're right."  
  
"I know. Go find her." Ron nodded and walked off determinedly. He found Hermione and pulled her away.  
  
"What?" she asked curiously. The worst thing happened to Ron, he came over all shy, he couldn't say a word. Hermione waited patiently. Suddenly an image flashed in Ron's mind of him holding Hermione's dead body and weeping as he thought about how he had never told her how much he loved her. He took a deep breath,  
  
"Hermione, I'm not good with words like Harry is. I can't make people feel things like Harry can. But I just want to say this. I don't know what's going to happen to me tonight. But if anything does happen I just want you to know this. I love you. I love you so much. I can't bare the thought of dying and you not knowing that." To his surprise Hermione threw her arms around neck, she was crying as she said,  
  
"Ron Weasley that was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard!" She pressed her lips against his. Happiness exploded inside him. He couldn't think straight. The only thing going through his mind was,  
  
'She loves me.' He kissed her back and for a few precious moments, amongst all the hate, fear and terror of war they were in ecstasy.  
  
"I love you too." She murmured as they broke apart. He smiled and kissed her again. A single pair of emerald eyes watched them through the darkness.  
  
------------  
  
Harry waited impatiently, they had been waiting in silence for half an hour. The wind was slowly beginning to weave it's way through the trees and the temperature had dropped dramatically. Harry shivered again and hugged himself in a vain attempt to try and stay warm. He cast another annoyed glance to the right,  
  
"Come on, Dumbledore, what the hell's talking you so long!" Behind him Ron and Hermione hugged each other, not just for love. The sound of thunder overhead was loud and the pitter-patter of rain falling on the thick forest canopy began,  
  
"Great, and now it's bloody raining." Harry muttered angrily to himself. He waited impatiently for a few more minutes, casting irritated looks right every couple of seconds. He was just about to send someone over to find out what was happening when he heard a sharp intake of breath, he looked to the right once again and his stomach gave a horrible lurch and adrenaline began to pump through him. Blue sparks were shimmering in the distance. A second later more appeared, Harry thrust his wand into the air,  
  
"This is it, fight well." He said to those around him before casting emerald green sparks. The whole line began to move forward, crouching low, moving as silently as the terrain allowed them, though with the thunder they needn't have worried.  
  
For all the darkness the edge of the forest was surprisingly close, and after half a minute they were out of it and the first few people were already scrambling up the slope. The moment Harry got out of the forest the noise of thunder hit him like a sledgehammer, momentarily disorientating him. A sharp shove in the back from Ron soon got him going.  
  
The scramble up the slope was a nervous one; every second Harry expected the sweeping beams of light to land on one of them. Keeping low he half ran, half scrambled up the slope. The stones were loose and every so often one was dislodged and caused a minor landslide. After a few minutes Harry was soaked to the skin but didn't realise. He turned to see Ron beside him,  
  
"Alright?" Harry asked him,  
  
"Yeah, the adrenaline's kicked in." Harry grinned at his best friend and received a grin in return.  
  
By now they were half way up, Harry was just about to turn and encourage them on when Ron slipped, he swore as he fell and kicked a large rock, sending it tumbling down the slope taking hundreds of other rocks with it, the sound of them crashing down the slope could be heard above the roar of the thunder. A shout went up from the wall,  
  
"Who's there?" A beam of light swept dangerously close, Harry and those around him pressed themselves against the ground, hardly daring to breathe. After what seemed like eternity, but was only a few seconds the searchlight swept away and Harry leapt to his feet and resumed running up the slope.  
  
The first few people had stopped about two hundred yards away from the wall. Harry led his troops up the slope and paused at the same distance. It happened without warning, nobody prompted them, one minute everything was still and only the crash of the thunder and the howling of the wind could be heard, the next minute a barrage of spells was flying towards the silhouetted figures on the wall.  
  
Cries of warning and fear went up from the Death Eaters and more of them appeared on the wall every second. The first few people began to fall.  
  
It was clear from the beginning that the attacking forces were at a serious disadvantage. They were hitting few figures on the wall and many of them were hit by spells only to tumble down the slope to lie dead or unconscious at the bottom.  
  
"Get closer!" Harry yelled above the noise of the battle and the thunder. He looked to his left to wave them on, one Goblin ran forward, caught one spell on his shield before another one hit him in the face causing a mass of blood to appear there, the Goblin slumped forward obviously dead.  
  
Harry led his men onwards. They managed to close the distance to a hundred yards but not without losing over a hundred people in the process. A larger boulder lay to the right and Harry ordered a handful of Aurors to take cover behind it and try and pick off the Death Eaters.  
  
It was fruitless, for every Death Eater that was put out of the battle another five came to fill his place. Harry fired off five stunners at a Death Eater who had hit a Goblin in the gut and sent it screaming to the floor and was firing stunning spells and dark spells at an Auror who was desperately blocking them but being forced back in the process. To Harry's surprise four of the stunners hit the wall but the fifth hit the Death Eater on the shoulder. The Death Eater toppled backwards. Harry attempted to follow it up with a slashing curse but it sailed over the heads of the figures on the wall.  
  
The battle was picking up pace and more and more people were falling, An Auror appeared beside Harry, fired off a burn curse before being hit by a jet of green light and slumping to the ground lifeless. Lupin appeared on Harry's other side and Harry was reassured by his presence. Harry shot a slashing curse at a Death Eater who's head appeared over the top of the wall. It hit the Death Eater in the neck, blood poured out and the Death Eater swayed before falling over the wall to land in a heap at the bottom. A cheer went up and people pushed forward.  
  
Jets of light were flying everywhere. A beam of green light narrowly missed Harry and hit a Goblin who was scrambling up behind him. A jet of red light hit the ground between Harry's feet and Harry leapt backwards as stones went flying everywhere.  
  
The attacking forces were in disarray; they were running everywhere. Harry grabbed Lupin, Ron and Hermione,  
  
"Try and get them back into line!" He yelled over the noise. They nodded and ran off, pushing people back into line. Once some order was restored people began to calm down and think straighter. Less of them fell and the Death Eaters began to take more casualties, but the attacking forces were still taking heavier casualties.  
  
Lupin suddenly appeared by Harry's side,  
  
"If we don't clear the walls of some of the Death Eaters soon, we're not going to win!" Harry nodded,  
  
"I know, let me think!" it was hard to think amongst the screams of the wounded and the noise of the battle. Harry studied the walls; a minute later he clicked his fingers,  
  
"I've got it, take a handful of men and run towards the walls but slightly to the left." Lupin nodded and a minute later he and a dozen others were sprinting towards the walls, the Death Eaters had to stand up fully to hit them, and when they did so the attacking forces took full advantage of it, barrages of stunners and slashing curses flew towards the Death Eaters and thirty of them fell down dead, wounded or unconscious. The rest ducked down behind the safety of the battlements.  
  
The Death Eaters stuck their wands over the side of the wall and fired spells at Lupin and his group, two Aurors and a member of the Order fell down dead as jets of green light hit them.  
  
"GET BACK!" Harry yelled to Lupin, waving him back. Lupin nodded and ran back to Harry, the DA and some of the Aurors covering their retreat. Lupin appeared by Harry. Harry clapped him on the shoulder,  
  
"Good work!" A second later Ron appeared by his side panting heavily, there was a large gash on his side but he didn't seem to notice,  
  
"Hannah Abbot's suffering from spell-shock, she's running everywhere, she's going to get herself killed!" Harry looked around and wasn't surprised. The jets of light seemed to have multiplied tenfold. Harry felt Ron push his head down as a beam of blue light soared overhead. A group of Aurors sprinted for a boulder but were cut down by jets of green light before they had gotten halfway. Another spell shot passed Harry, missing him by inches. He turned to Ron,  
  
"Get her behind the lines for five minutes, that should calm her down." Ron nodded, ducked another jet of light and sprinted to where Dean and Colin were restraining a struggling Hannah Abbot. All thoughts of her were put out of his mind when a spell flew his way and he was forced to conjure an advanced shield charm to block.  
  
The line was holding well, even though many of the attacking forces were falling every second. Harry watched in horror as a banishing charm hit an Auror, sending him flying through the air screaming before landing in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the slope. The well-organised ranks had broken down again as people fell or rushed to help wounded comrades,  
  
Harry was snapped back to reality as a spell hit him in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. The DA instinctively crowded around to protect their leader. Ron bent down beside him,  
  
"You alright?" Harry nodded and looked at his shoulder, a deep wound had appeared there,  
  
"Yeah." Ron healed it an instant, he helped Harry to his feet. Harry quickly did a head count of the DA all of them were up and fighting but many were sporting cuts and burns. Hannah Abbot was back looking much calmer.  
  
Harry cast a quick glance to his right, both Moody's and Dumbledore's troops seemed to be in pretty much the same situation as his own. He glanced to his left, searching out any places that needed reinforcing.  
  
Lupin and fifty members of the Order were standing in front of the lines trying to land more hits the Death Eaters. So far it was looking successful but a few of them were falling every minute. Harry turned to Ron,  
  
"Go and reinforce, Lupin, I'll be along with some Aurors after I have spoken to the Goblins." Ron nodded and led the DA towards Lupin.  
  
The Goblins seemed to have detached themselves from the witches and wizards; most of them were standing in a large group to the left of the battle line. Harry sprinted towards them, ignoring the spells that were landing around his feet, he stumbled slightly when one hit him on the leg but did not stop running. He reached the Goblins and made straight for Ragnok.  
  
"How are you doing?" Harry asked, panting slightly, Ragnok shrugged, he caught a spell on his shield and threw his heavy throwing axe at a Death Eater who had just killed a Goblin and was aiming at Ragnok. The throwing axes were useful, they flew towards the wall and even if they missed their target they chipped bits of stone out of the battlements and forced the Death Eaters to keep their heads down. Harry stepped out of the way slightly as the throwing axe flew back towards them having hit the Death Eater, obviously charmed to fly back to their owners,  
  
"Ok, we lose many men, but so do you I think." Harry nodded; while they had been speaking another ten Goblins had fallen around them. Harry cast a glace over at the wizarding lines. A dozen Aurors fell before his eyes, one of them screaming terribly having received a slashing curse to his groin. Harry made a snap decision,  
  
"Hold on for another half an hour." Ragnok looked faintly puzzled but nodded anyway. Harry clapped the Goblin on the shoulder and ran off. He grabbed twenty Aurors and led them over to where less then half of Lupin's men were still fighting and a few of the DA were lying on the floor, their comrades too hard pressed to help them, Harry fired stunners at the wall when he reached them before turning to Lupin.  
  
"We're falling back slightly, we need to reform. Help the wounded quickly." Lupin nodded and set about getting the wounded healed; a minute later they were sprinting back towards friendly lines. Two screams from behind told him that people were still falling. An Auror running next to him fell to the floor silently as the killing curse hit him in the back.  
  
They reached friendly lines. Harry surveyed the area in front of him. To his dismay there were a group seven or eight of Aurors pinned down behind a boulder unable to move. Harry waved at them to get back but they didn't move. He groaned before turning to the DA.  
  
"I need a dozen volunteers to help me get those Aurors back." Everyone stepped forward. In the end Harry took Dean, Seamus, Neville, Ginny, Cho, Ron, Hermione, Parvati, Lavender, Colin, Terry and Anthony. He led them towards the Aurors aware of the rest of the army watching them with bated breath. Harry tried to ignore the spells that were landing all around him. A scream from behind told him that Dean had one down,  
  
"Leave him!" he barked, "We'll get him on the way back." A jet of green light missed Harry by inches just before he got to the boulder. He grinned at the Aurors reassuringly,  
  
"Hello boys, we're your rescuers." The Aurors looked relieved,  
  
"Thank God you're here, sir. We've been pinned down for nearly twenty minutes!"  
  
"Don't worry. Now you're Aurors aren't you." They nodded, "Then you're tough. Now, we're going to show the rest of the army and the Death Eaters what Aurors are made of. We're going to fight a fighting retreat" they Aurors looked calmer at Harry's reassuring, easy tone.  
  
"Yes sir." Harry grinned at them,  
  
"Excellent, now here's what we're going to do. We're going to go back one step at a time, always facing the Death Eaters, fire off every spell you know at them, don't worry about hitting them, just keep there heads down. Ready?" They nodded, "Then let's go." Harry stood up and the rest followed suite, they began stepping backwards one step at a time. Harry fired off stunners and slashing curses faster than he had ever done before. Nevertheless a lot of spells were still landing around them and every five stunners was punctuated with a shield charm. Harry kept breathing deeply and despite his pounding nerves stepped backwards slowly. The Aurors looked a lot more confident and were starting to pick off their targets.  
  
They reached Dean and Cho paused momentarily to heal him. In a second he was back on his feet and firing spells along with the rest of them. They reached friendly lines and a great cheer went up at their safe return. Harry turned to the Aurors grinning,  
  
"Well done, boys!" The Aurors grinned back.  
  
"Thank you for getting us out of that, sir." One of them, evidently their spokesman, said.  
  
"No problem." For a few more minutes an exchange of spells followed but there seemed to be a slight lull in the battle. Harry attempted to exploit it by ordering those around him to fire spells faster. It worked and a lot of Death Eaters fell to jets of red light and the silver light of a slashing curse.  
  
Lupin appeared by Harry looking desperate,  
  
"Casualties have reached critical, we've lost a quarter of our men, of we don't get inside now we will lose. For certain." Harry scanned the walls; there were fewer Death Eaters on them but not many less. Hermione turned to him,  
  
"Dumbledore did say clear the walls." But she sounded doubtful. Harry thought for a minute,  
  
"Sod that. We're breaching." Those around him gave aloud cheer. More cheers followed as word was passed along the line. Harry remembered the spell Moody taught him for this purpose. First he took out a vial of strength replenishing potion and drank it. He felt the familiar surge of energy rush through him. He drew his sword and held it in front of him,  
  
"Get ready, we're breaching." He summoned up all his strength and pointed his wand at a section of wall where unsuspecting Death Eaters were still exchanging fire with the Aurors. The DA and the Order crowded behind Harry.  
  
"Brechatus!" The jet of reddish brown light went unnoticed amongst the other spells. It struck the wall and a huge explosion tore through the air. They attacking forces near to the breach ducked as large stones and bits of human bodies flew through the air, over their heads and landed at the bottom of the slope.  
  
Harry led the cheering troops towards the breach.  
  
------------  
  
Dumbledore paused, as did the rest of the forces, including the Death Eaters, there was a massive explosion followed by a huge cheer. Bits of rock were flying through the air in the distance. Harry Potter could be seen leading cheering troops towards a breach in the wall. Smiling slightly, Dumbledore began to lead his own troops towards the breach.  
  
------------  
  
Harry ignored the spells that were landing all around him. He kept running towards the breach, never pausing, never taking his eyes off it. The spells began to land closer as the breach got nearer.  
  
Suddenly he was there. He clambered over the pile of debris where the wall had once stood. The rocks were stained red with the blood of the Death Eaters and bits of human remains could be seen poking out.  
  
Harry clambered down and stabbed his sword into the gut of a Death Eater, he turned and fired a slashing curse at point-blank range into the face of a Death Eater who had his wand pointing at Harry and was opening his mouth. The Death Eater fell back yelling in pain and clutching his hands to his face.  
  
The DA and the Order swarmed passed him screaming; their bloodlust was up. They had endured nearly two hours of hell as they saw their friends being cut down before their eyes and being unable to do anything about it. They wanted revenge. For the first few minutes it was a massacre. The attacking forces screamed spells as the ran, pushing the Death Eaters further and further back towards the keep, the Death Eaters seemed hesitant to fight back in the face of such fury.  
  
The Death Eaters seemed to come to their wits after a hundred of them had fallen. A bloody battle ensued. Harry hammered the hilt of his sword into the face of one Death Eater whilst stunning another. He turned to block a spell flying at him and was hit in the back by a slashing curse. Another hit him in the side and one in the leg sending him flying to the ground. He rolled to the side as a Death Eater fired a stunner down at him. Harry prepared to block another when the Death Eater gave a horrible shudder and fell backwards, Lupin's sword in his side. Lupin healed Harry's wounds but was forced into another duel with a Death eater that had just killed an Auror and was running towards him.  
  
Harry leapt to his feet. He stabbed a Death Eater in the chest before dashing towards Ron who was hard pressed fighting two Death Eaters. Ron blocked one spell but another caught him in the stomach. He fell to the floor. The Death Eater crowed triumphantly. Harry sprinted to take over Ron's duel. He hacked down a Death Eater that was in his way, one of the Death Eaters saw him coming. Harry blocked the stunning spells and retaliated with a barrage of slashing curses and burn curses. The first Death Eater fell to the floor screaming as six of the slashing curses and a great number of the burn curses struck him. The second Death Eater threw himself into the duel with relish.  
  
Harry blocked his first spell and lunged with his sword, the Death Eater leapt backwards to avoid it. Harry managed to keep his balance but was unable to block the slashing spell that flew at him and caught him the chest. He gasped for breath and to by himself time he lashed out wildly with his sword. Once again the Death Eater leapt backwards and retaliated with another slashing curse. It hit Harry on the arm. Harry knew he was fighting an expert.  
  
The Death Eater lunged forwards and smashed his fist into Harry's face knocking him to the ground. The Death Eater stood over Harry and pointed his wand at Harry's heart.  
  
"I'm going to enjoy killing you."  
  
"You should have stayed at home today." Harry gasped out. The Death Eater laughed. Harry's hand finally found the hilt of his sword and he rammed it upwards with a much force as he could. It went straight through the Death Eater and his blood spurted all over Harry. The Death Eater fell backwards nearly taking Harry's sword with him. Harry managed to hold onto it and he wrenched it out of the dead Death Eater. He stood up and walked shakily over to where Ron was lying unconscious.  
  
He healed Ron's wounds and paused to fire a slashing spell at a Death Eater who was running towards him. It hit the Death Eater in the throat and he took a few more stumbling steps before falling to the ground.  
  
Harry turned back to Ron,  
  
"Enervate." Ron woke up and Harry pulled him to his feet. Ron looked at Harry who was covered from head to toe in blood, not all of it the Death Eater's.  
  
"What happened to you?" Harry grinned at his best friend.  
  
"I took over your duel." Harry opened his mouth to tell one something, but was interrupted as another swarm of Aurors and Goblins poured into the breach. Amongst them Dumbledore could be seen.  
  
"Gather the DA, keep them together. I need to go and speak to Dumbledore when I get back I'll need you all to do something. Ron nodded and darted back towards the centre of the fray.  
  
Harry turned and ran towards the breach. The battle was brutal. There were spells flying everywhere amongst the mass of duelling, shouting bodies. Unlike outside there was often no time to block them. Harry felt a spell hit him in the side and turned to duel with a Death Eater who was standing over the dead body of a Goblin.  
  
Beams of light flew so fast from Harry's wand that the Death Eater had no time to block them and was soon lying dead beside the Goblin. Harry stabbed a Death Eater in the side and fired two stunners at two others at point blank range.  
  
He came to three embattled members of the Order who were fighting five Death Eaters, one of the Order members fell and Harry darted to take his place. The first Death Eater didn't even see him coming and was soon lying dead on the floor, a deep stab wound to his heart. The second turned and was met by a hail of slashing spells he managed to block them and shout a warning to his friends.  
  
Harry fell in alongside one of the Order members. He fired a stunner at a Death Eater, the Death Eater blocked it easily and Harry ducked to avoid it, as he ducked he shot a blinding spell at the Death Eater, unfortunately for the Death Eater as he prepared to block Harry's spell another curse hit him in the side. The Death Eater doubled over and Harry's spell hit him in the face, the Death Eater panicked and started yelling in fear but was quickly silenced by a slashing curse to the throat from Harry.  
  
He watched another of the Death Eaters fall down dead and Harry and the other two Order members began a vicious fight with the surviving Death Eaters, on of the Order members fell when a spell flew over the Death Eater's heads and hit him in the throat. He tumbled backwards a look of intense surprise on his face. Harry distracted one of the Death Eaters with a barrage of stunners, the Death Eater blocked them and Harry stepped to the side to avoid them and with one sweep of his sword he beheaded the Death Eater. The Death Eater's headless body swayed for a full minute before falling to the floor.  
  
The final Death fell a second later after a barrage of stunners and slashing curses from Harry and the surviving Order member overwhelmed him. The Order member nodded at Harry in thanks before running to help a group of Goblins fight off a larger group of Death Eaters. He had not gotten six paces before a jet of green light appeared out of nowhere and struck him in the face sending him toppling to the ground lifeless.  
  
Harry could see Dumbledore leading a group of Aurors in a fight against a group of Death Eaters on the wall, ducking the spells that were flying everywhere and ignoring the ones that hit him Harry ran towards him.  
  
He was halfway there when a spell hit him in the ankle sending him sprawling across the ground, a jet of green light flew over his head and another one struck the ground next to his right hand. Harry suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side, then the breath was knocked out of him when an Auror fell backwards on top of him, the Death Eater the Auror had been duelling with gave a triumphant cry and was about to kill the Auror when Harry lashed out with his sword and cut the Death Eater across the ankles. The Death Eater fell with a terrible scream, the Auror leapt off of Harry and killed the Death Eater with a slashing curse to throat. He held his hand out to Harry and pulled him to his feet,  
  
"Thank you sir, I think you've just saved my life" Harry grinned at the Auror,  
  
"No problem." Harry turned and ran towards Dumbledore. Dumbledore turned and smiled at him.  
  
"Hello Harry." He had to shout above the noise of the battle and the screams and shouts. Dumbledore effortlessly blocked a spell that flew his way. Dumbledore was the only person who Harry had seen that was seemingly untouched by spells.  
  
"How's it going?" Harry asked Dumbledore,  
  
"Fine, better now that we are inside, they're taking as much casualties as we are. And you?"  
  
"Good. We're inside so let's find that damn book." Said Harry forcefully, ducking two spells that flew his way.  
  
A/N That is the first part of the assault. Like "A Candle in the Dark" this fic will fifteen chapters. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and it has lived up to your expectations.  
  
Next chapter will be out on Thursday or Friday.  
  
LogicalRaven – Thanks for the review.  
  
Anime-Master7 – Thanks for the review.  
  
Charmed-103 – Thanks for the review.  
  
Colm – Thanks for the review.  
  
Rocky235 – Thanks for the reviews, I'm glad I got you all fired up. I like the blood thirsty Harry too, if you are faced with a task like Harry's you will soon learn to become blood thirsty or you will fail. By the way, what boarding school were you at? I am currently at Repton School, Roald Dahl's and Jeremy Clarkson's old school.  
  
The Enchantresses – Thanks for the review.  
  
Rarr – In what way is Dumbledore OOC? I think Ginny being a bit of a flirt suits her as well. Thanks for the review.  
  
OoXandiaoO – Thanks very much for the review, it was very encouraging.  
  
Pixielax06 – Thanks very much for the review, I'm glad I inspired you.  
  
FSI – Thanks for the review, Cho and Harry are in love but you will see more of that in the next fic.  
  
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing,  
  
Fireboy 


	14. Inside the Castle

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.  
  
The Second Darkness  
  
Chapter 14: Inside the Castle  
  
Dumbledore nodded at Harry. Harry grinned at his Headmaster, turned and ran back towards the DA. Harry hacked down a Death Eater who jumped into his way. Another Death Eater hit him with a spell from behind but it merely bounced of the dragonskin armour. Harry ducked as a spell flew towards him and blocked another.  
  
He caught up with Ron as Ron was leading the DA to help some Aurors who were pinned against a wall by a ring of Death Eaters who were killing or wounding an Auror with every other spell. Harry grabbed Ron by the robes and began to drag him away,  
  
"What are you doing? We need to help the Aurors!" Ron yelled over the noise of the fight.  
  
"We've got to get that book!" Ron shook his head and began running back to help the Aurors. Five goblins and two members of the Order ran passed Harry. Harry stopped them and directed them towards the Aurors. They nodded and attacked the Death Eaters from behind. Harry turned to Ron, blocking two spells that flew his way as he did so.  
  
"Happy now?" Harry asked sarcastically, Ron nodded equally sarcastically. Harry began leading the DA over to his target. Susan Bones gave a cry and fell to the ground as a slashing spell hit her. Neville paused and healed her in an instant. Another wave of Death Eaters swarmed out of the double doors, killing five Aurors and wounding a load more as they forced their way over to a group of Goblins who were putting up a brave resistance against a larger group of Death Eaters. The next time Harry looked, a minute later, the Goblins were all dead.  
  
Every so often a group of Death Eaters would swarm out of the double doors, target a group of the attacking forces, wipe them out, and then get caught up in the battle. Harry heard a cheer and turned to see another group of the Order pour over the breach. The wall either side of the breach was occupied by Aurors who were raining spells down on the Death Eaters below. One of the Aurors was hit by a jet of red light and toppled silently off of the wall. Another Auror was hit by a jet of purple light, he staggered backwards with his hands at his throat as if he was choking and fell over the wall.  
  
Harry winced as a spell hit him in the side. A second later another spell hit him sending him flying backwards and crashing into the wall. His arm was broken by the impact and his wand clattered to the floor. The DA sprinted over to him. They formed a defensive semi-circle around him, firing spells at Death Eaters who attacked them. Another wave of Death Eaters poured out of the double doors and headed straight for the DA.  
  
Hermione inspected Harry's arm.  
  
"It's broken. I only know one spell for healing broken bones and it takes about five minutes to work. Best do it then." Hermione waved her wand over Harry's arm; "Restoracitatus" Harry felt a tingling, sometimes painful sensation in his arm as the bones came back together.  
  
The DA were locked in a vicious fight with the wave of Death Eaters. A few of the DA had fallen, Seamus ran over to heal Dennis Creevey who had been duelling with a Death Eater before being hit by a stray spell and crumpling to the ground, but before Seamus could get there he was hit by a jet of red light and fell down unconscious.  
  
The DA were putting up a valiant fight but were falling in greater numbers and in some places where there had originally been three ranks, only one remained. Ron cast a worried look at Harry and then back at the DA, He clapped Harry on the shoulder of his undamaged arm,  
  
"Mate, I've got to go and help the DA. Stay with him Hermione." Harry watched Ron run over, slip in between Parvati and Lavender; heal Seamus and Dennis before firing a dozen stunners at a Death Eater.  
  
At one point a Death Eater broke through and ran straight for Harry, Hermione fired a stunner at the Death Eater blocked it and it rebounded and Hermione. The Death Eater, urged on by adrenaline, did not stop running until he was inches away from Harry. The Death Eater raised his wand to fire a spell at Harry. Harry grabbed his sword in his left hand and plunged it into the Death Eater's stomach.  
  
Putting his sword down he picked up his wand and waved it in a clumsy motion over Hermione and revived her. Harry looked to see if any help was coming. A group of Aurors and Goblins had spotted them and were running to help when a bunch of spells flew and hit them, wiping out half of them and forcing the rest to defend themselves.  
  
By now less than a third of the DA were still fighting, and each of them had at least three deep gashes on them, they had fallen back slightly to keep the semicircle tight. Harry watched Dean get hit by another slashing curse, fall to the ground, try to rise, failed and tried again before a stunner in the back made him still.  
  
Hatred boiled in Harry like never before. Watching Dean struggle to rise and keep fighting to protect his leader had touched Harry. Harry felt a surge of anger against the Death Eaters for forcing the DA into this situation. He was touched by the DA's loyalty, the Death Eaters had thrown everything they had against the DA and the DA had faced them and not once looked like they were going to run. The Death Eaters were going to pay for what they had done to the DA  
  
Harry felt the tingling in his arm subside; he stood up and picked up his sword his face furious, completely forgetting about his wand, the Death Eaters saw he was standing and suddenly most of their spells were directed at him. He sprinted forwards, through the DA and into the ranks of the attacking Death Eaters.  
  
He stabbed, hacked and cut down the Death Eaters around him, not feeling the spells that struck him. He cut down a Death Eater before turning and stabbing another in the side; he ducked a spell and swept his sword across a Death Eater's leg sending the Death Eater crashing to the ground. Harry dispatched the wounded Death Eater with a stab to the neck.  
  
He leapt to his feet and plunged his sword into the face of one, withdrew it and reverse stabbed another. One Death Eater fired a curse at Harry; Harry ducked it and stabbed him in the groin. The Death Eater fell with an agonised cry.  
  
Two more Death Eaters fell to swift strokes, but the spells were beginning to take their toll. Harry had four cuts on his body, all of them bleeding profusely. He was starting to tire but kept up the attack relentlessly. Another Death Eater fell with a slash wound across his stomach. One Death Eater was pushed to the front; he panicked and made the slashing movement with his wand that Dolohov had made on Hermione in the Department of Mysteries. Harry jumped to the left and stabbed the Death Eater in the side. Harry leapt over the falling Death Eater and plunged his sword into another one. The Death Eaters could take no more. They turned and ran, Harry managed to kill another one by stabbing him in the back.  
  
Panting, Harry turned back to the DA, who were standing there watching him open-mouthed. He walked over to the wall and picked up his wand, fully aware of the DA's gaze on him every step of the way.  
  
"What?" He asked them, as if taking on thirty Death Eaters alone with only a sword and killing or wounding two thirds of them without getting killed was an everyday occurrence.  
  
"When the hell did you become that brutal?" Demanded Ron, "Harry you idiot, you've just taken on thirty Death Eaters, alone, with only a sword and killed or wounded two thirds of them, sent the rest running for their lives and you're still here to tell the tale! What the bloody hell do you mean 'what'?" Harry shrugged. Ron shook his head and the faces of the rest of the DA showed they agreed with him.  
  
Harry led the DA towards the castle, another wave of Death Eaters poured out and slaughtered a group of Goblins who had just overcome a larger group of Death Eaters.  
  
"We've got to find a way to stop that." Harry muttered to himself. Suddenly an idea came to him. He turned to Ron eagerly,  
  
"Take half the DA and get on that wall opposite the door where all the Death eaters come out of. Kill, wound or stun as many as you can before they get into the fight." Ron nodded. Harry and the DA fought their way over to the wall; a group of Death Eaters were still on top of it and were raining spells down onto the Aurors below.  
  
Harry got the DA as close as he could, he held up a hand, a second later he let it drop and a volley of stunners flew towards the Death Eaters. All of them were stunned. Harry led Ron and half of the DA up the steps on to the wall; using his sword he slit the throats of all the unconscious Death Eaters. Ron organised the nine members of the DA he had with him into two ranks. Harry clapped Ron on the shoulder.  
  
"Good luck Ron."  
  
"You too, mate, fight well." Harry nodded to the DA. A group of Death Eaters were running up the stairs on to the wall Harry began a duel with them but was getting forced back. Ron noticed Harry was in trouble but couldn't do anything about it for fear of hitting Harry. Harry glanced back at Ron nodded. Ron understood in an instant,  
  
Without warning Harry leapt of the wall and Ron and the DA began an exchange of spells with the Death Eaters that ended up in the killing of one Death Eater and the wounding of three.  
  
Harry fell thirty feet to the ground; he hit it and rolled forwards to absorb the impact. Seamus walked over to him grinning,  
  
"Impressive." He said, Harry grinned at him, "Suicidal, yes, but very impressive."  
  
"Thanks." Said Harry laughing. The two of them ran over to where the DA were caught up in a duel with some Death Eaters that had just finished off a group of the Order.  
  
Harry blocked a stunning spell and retaliated with a slashing curse. The Death Eater sidestepped and fired his own slashing curse back. It hit Harry on the side of the face causing a mass of blood to well up there and start pouring down his cheeks. The Death Eater opened his mouth to fire another spell at Harry when Padma Patil stepped in with a slashing curse to the Death Eater's neck. The Death Eater crumpled to the ground.  
  
"Thanks." Harry called to her. She smiled at him.  
  
"No problem." Harry glanced back at the Ron and the DA on the wall. They were being attacked by Death Eaters on the ground and by a few who were running up the steps. Harry gathered the rest of the DA and led them over to the wall where the Ron and the other half of the DA were fighting.  
  
At that point a group of Aurors ran passed them, chasing some fleeing Death Eaters. Harry stopped them. To his surprise it was the Aurors he had rescued earlier.  
  
"I need you boys to do something for me."  
  
"Anything." Harry pointed to where Ron was.  
  
"I need you to get up there. Tell him I sent you. He'll explain what I want you to do." They nodded and ran off. Harry watched them go. They were half way there when a Death Eater fired a jet of green light at one of them. The Auror stiffened and then fell to the ground dead. Harry felt an overwhelming sadness. The Auror couldn't have been a day older than nineteen.  
  
He shook his head to clear it and led the DA to the base of the wall. From there they began firing spells into the mass of Death Eaters in front of them. Harry blocked to black spells and fired a burn curse at A Death Eater who stunned an Auror before running towards Parvati Patil.  
  
Harry glanced upwards but instantly regretted it. Two slashing curses hit him. One on the thigh and one on the chest. He ignored them to step in front of Lavender to protect her from a Death Eater who ran towards her with a knife held high.  
  
The Death eater sprinted at Harry, Harry side stepped the knife lunge and tripped the Death Eater up, before plunging his sword down into the Death Eater's back.  
  
Lavender nodded at Harry in thanks, not at all fazed by the blood that had spurted all over her and Harry. A sudden realisation hit Harry. He had turned the DA into warriors. Into killers. He felt a sudden rush of guilt.  
  
He snapped back to reality by a jet of green light that was speeding up to where Ron was. Harry watched it, time seemed to slow down, he ignored the spells that thumped into the ground around him, he ignored the cries of the DA as they duelled with the Death Eaters. He ignored the darting bodies all around him.  
  
He watched the spell fly towards Ron. Ron hadn't seen it. He was too busy duelling with a Death Eater running up the steps. Harry began to shout a warning but it was too late. The jet of green light struck Ron square in the face. Ron stiffened, then went limp and fell off the wall. Harry ran to catch his best friend. Inside his mind he knew it was fruitless. Ron was dead.  
  
He caught his friend's dead body just before it hit the ground. Harry laid it down gently, weeping over him. The DA paused and turned. Their eyes widened in shock. A few of them screamed.  
  
Uncontrollable fury flooded through Harry. He had just watched his best friend die. He wanted revenge. He stood up shaking. He drew his sword from his scabbard. Pure fury seemed to radiate off of him and the Death Eaters around him paused. Harry thrust his wand into the air and emerald green sparks poured out of it. The DA on the wall leapt off and ran to him, the DA on the ground gathered around him, they knew what this meant. This meant that the Death Eaters would know the true meaning of fear. There would be revenge. The DA would make sure Ron's death was avenged. There was a time for mourning but this was not it.  
  
Harry stared at the battle raging around him and anger boiled in him. He wanted the Death Eaters to know that they were about to die. He opened his mouth,  
  
"YOU WILL PAY!" He led the howling DA into the Death Eaters. Blood poured everywhere as Harry cut them down with his sword. A few tried to run but didn't get far. Another Death Eater fell to his knees begging for mercy but Harry swiftly beheaded him.  
  
He stabbed another Death Eater in the face and fired a slashing curse into the stomach of another. The DA killed anyone they could in a howling, bloody rage. They wanted revenge and they sure as hell were going to get it. Another five Death Eaters fell to the DA and the rest turned to run. They got nowhere, there was nowhere to run. The DA cut them down mercilessly and the ground ran red with the blood of the Death Eaters.  
  
A brave group of Death Eaters tried to fight back but Harry sprinted into their midst and killed every one of them.  
  
Harry saw two more Death Eaters try to make a break for it but slashing curses from the DA soon ended their lives. Another Death Eater sprinted for Harry with a knife in his hand. Harry waited for him and at the last second thrust his sword into the Death Eater, impaling him.  
  
Harry was drenched from head to foot in blood but didn't care, he slashed another Death Eater's face open. He turned and plunged his sword into the eye socket of a Death Eater who had tried to stun him but missed.  
  
And then he was spent. The DA continued to fight around him but Harry had no energy left. He was tired of all this war and hate. He wanted it all to end. Now that Ron was dead, he felt there was nothing to live for.  
  
He walked over to his best friend's body and knelt beside it. He took Ron's hand in his own. It was still slightly warm but the heat was fading fast. He closed his eyes and wept for his dead friend. He remembered all the good times they'd had together. Meeting for the first time on the train. Ron standing by him all through second year. Rescuing Ginny from the basilisk. Meeting Sirius. Laughing and talking by the lake. Forming the DA together. Worrying about OWL's together. Fighting beside him in the Department of Mysteries. Helping Harry get over Sirius.  
  
A fresh wave of tears poured down Harry's face. Ron had stood by him no matter what. He had always been there for him. Always been ready to fight alongside Harry. Ready to die for Harry. Harry remembered Ron's words just before the Battle for Hogwarts 'I trust Harry, I trust him with my life, where he goes, I go with him, where he fights, I fight with him, if he dies, I die with him'  
  
For a minute, amidst the hate, war, fear and death, Harry was left alone with his grief.  
  
------------  
  
Harry never noticed Hermione walk over to him. But suddenly she was there, clutching Ron's other hand. Tears were pouring down her face. There was no denying it they both knew that Ron was dead.  
  
"He knew. He knew he was going to die. That's why he told me he loved me." Harry nodded, feeling too weak to contradict her. They knelt beside each other the tears pouring down their faces. Harry felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked up and saw Lupin standing there.  
  
"I'm sorry Harry. I really am. Ron was a good person." Harry nodded weakly. Harry stood up shakily, he had a battle to fight. Ron would not want them to lose on behalf of him. He would do it for Ron, he would bring a new fear to the Death Eaters, he would make them pay, he would damn well make them pay.  
  
Harry felt a bloodlust like never before. He threw himself into the fight with a frightening enthusiasm. Death Eater after Death Eater was fell to Harry's flashing blade. Harry fired a stunner at a Death Eater who had just knocked Parvati to the ground. The Death Eater fell forwards in a graceful arc. Harry thrust his sword into the Death Eater's throat.  
  
A scream from Hermione told him that she was in trouble. He spun around and darted back towards her. She was trying to fight off two Death Eaters. Harry came up behind them and stabbed his sword into the back of one of them. The other turned around at his comrades dying scream and was met by a barrage of slashing curses to the face.  
  
Harry slowly walked over to where Hermione was kneeling by Ron's body. He gently pulled her by the shoulder.  
  
"C'mon, we've got a battle to fight. Ron wouldn't want us to lose it because he fell. Let's do this for Ron." Harry said, his voice hoarse. Hermione nodded,  
  
"Let me say goodbye then, one last time." Harry nodded. Hermione knelt by Ron and put her hands around his neck and pressed her forehead to his.  
  
"Bye, Ron. Thanks for everything. We're going to miss you." Then she looked up, surprised.  
  
"Harry." She said slowly, "Come here." Wondering what was going on Harry walked over to her. A spell flew over his head, and narrowly missed Hermione, he paused to block any others. When he turned back to Hermione she was looking extremely excited. He ran over to her,  
  
"Give me your hand." She instructed. He did so and she pressed it to Ron's neck. Harry frowned, he couldn't feel anything. But suddenly there it was. A faint beating. Harry frowned trying to work out what it was. But the it hit him. A pulse! Harry sucked in his breath, hardly daring to believe it. Then it sunk in. Harry leapt to his feet.  
  
"LUPIN, GET OVER HERE!" Harry bellowed, relief flooding into his voice, Lupin looked surprised but ran over anyway,  
  
"What?" Harry turned to Hermione,  
  
"Show him, Hermione."  
  
"Give me your hand, professor." Lupin frowned but did so. Without hesitation Hermione pressed it to Ron's neck. Lupin looked puzzled but then comprehension dawned on his face,  
  
"I don't believe it, it's impossible!" He muttered, "He's alive!" The last part was said out loud to Harry and Hermione, they nodded, tears of joy in their eyes. Lupin looked thoughtful, but then smiled.  
  
"I know what this is."  
  
"What?" Harry asked him.  
  
"It's a long explanation, I will tell you when we get back to Hogwarts, but it basically makes up for the fact that many Death Eaters can't perform the actual killing curse." He turned to Ron and frowned, then he smiled, waved his wand over Ron and said a few words.  
  
And Ron began to blink.  
  
A shout of warning from an Auror snapped them back to reality. Two Death Eaters were sprinting towards them. Lupin leapt to his feet,  
  
"Stay with Ron, I'll handle these two." Harry and Hermione nodded. Lupin sprinted off and began duelling with the two Death Eaters. Harry silently urged Ron to wake up, he hoped that Lupin had known what he was doing.  
  
And then Ron woke, relief flooded through Harry and he keeled over sideways and vomited. He turned to look at his best friends surprised face and burst out laughing with relief, Harry felt light-headed, it was difficult to focus so great was his relief. Ron groaned and shook his head.  
  
"What happened." Harry laughed harder,  
  
"You were dead, and Lupin brought you back to life." Hermione smiled,  
  
"You were hit by a spell that gave you the appearance of being dead. We both thought you were dead, but then I felt a pulse and we got Lupin over here and he healed you. We'll tell you more at Hogwarts." The three friends paused, savouring the relief, each of them had tears sliding down their faces. They stood at the same time, and ran towards the fight.  
  
Harry nudged Ron, "Let them know you're back." He said grinning broadly. Ron paused, searching for the right words.  
  
"DA! RON WEASLEY IS BACK!" The DA turned in surprise, then gave a loud cheer, unable to believe what they were seeing but having to.  
  
Harry, Ron and Hermione threw themselves back into the fight. Death Eater after Death Eater fell, the DA urged on by Ron's return.  
  
Harry grabbed Ron and forced him down to the floor. A barrage of spells flew over their heads. Seamus saw what was happening and went to duel with the Death Eater who had attacked Harry and Ron. A spell hit the ground inches from them, leaving a large crater, Harry and Ron threw themselves to the right, taking cover behind a large rock, evidently from the explosion that breached the wall.  
  
Spells hit the other side of the rock, pinning Harry and Ron down. A group of battle weary Goblins were standing nearby, engaged in a vicious fight with some Death Eaters, another group of Goblins were fighting alongside some Aurors who were pushing some Death Eaters backwards. Harry continued to look around desperately for any possible help.  
  
A group of the Order had just finished off some Death Eaters and were running over to Harry.  
  
"Death Eaters behind us! We're pinned down." The Order members nodded and ran round the back, a few minutes later one of them reappeared,  
  
"They're dead." Harry nodded his thanks and ran back to the DA, a Death Eater turned and stunned Ron and Harry ducked the stunner that was meant for him and hit the Death eater with a slashing curse to throat.  
  
Harry was duelling with a Death Eater when a scream of horror went up from the Aurors by the door, this was followed by more screams and then suddenly it seemed like all the Aurors were running, Harry blocked a stunner and grabbed an Auror who was sprinting past him,  
  
"What the hell is going on?" The Auror paused for breath,  
  
"Death Eaters, assassins, thousands of them, we tried to hold them but we must've lost half our men -" The Auror said no more as a jet of green light struck him. Harry dropped the dead body,  
  
"Shit." He ran over to where the DA were still fighting fiercely. Hermione blocked a slashing curse and turned to Harry.  
  
"What's going on?" Harry looked around at the fleeing Aurors and Goblins.  
  
"We're falling back."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"That's why!" Yelled Ron, pointing over at the door, a group of about a hundred assassins were firing killing curses into the ranks of the Aurors. Harry watched an assassin fire a killing curse at a Goblin, the Goblin instinctively held up his shield to block it but the killing curse burnt a hole through it and hit the Goblin. Harry swore again and drew his sword; he began to run towards the assassins but felt someone pull him back, he turned around angrily to see Lupin standing there,  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Harry asked him angrily,  
  
"I was going to ask you the same bloody question! You'll get yourself killed if you attack them!" Harry shook his head,  
  
"I've got to, otherwise we'll lose."  
  
"We've lost already, we can't hold them!" As if confirming it Dumbledore's voice was magically amplified over the screams and shouts of the dying and the scared,  
  
"Retreat!" Everyone turned and ran. Harry swore loudly,  
  
"Lupin, we've got to get that book."  
  
"It was stupid coming here, we underestimated it. We've already lost over half our men, we can't risk any more! We should have known we were never going to find that book." The screams were closer now and more assassins could be seen pouring out of the double doors, six Aurors and a dozen Goblins fell next to them as the assassins closed in on them.  
  
"Harry!" Dean yelled, "We can't hold them much longer!" Sure enough the DA were being pushed further and further back under a barrage of spells.  
  
"We've got to go!" Finally Harry nodded,  
  
"DA, fall back." All law and order broke down then as the DA joined the fleeing troops, there were screams everywhere as the attack forces fell left, right and centre, the DA fought their way over to the breach.  
  
And suddenly they were out and were pouring down the hill. Harry could not believe how quickly it was over. But then again, that's how battles go, he mused, one minute it's all equal and the next one side is fleeing, all it takes is one subtle shift in power and the scale is tipped completely.  
  
Harry and the DA ran into the forest and formed a battle line awaiting a counter attack. It never came; the Death Eaters seemed content just to hurl spells down into the forest. Every so often there would be a cry as a lucky spell found its mark.  
  
Dumbledore was walking along the line, his face calm and impassive. Harry felt anything but. He was furious that they'd had to retreat but he felt guilty most of all; he felt he had let the DA and the Aurors and the Goblins down. He felt guilty that he promised the Hogwarts students not to fail and he had failed.  
  
Dumbledore interrupted Harry's thoughts. "Portkeys in five minutes, Harry." It was then that Harry realised that Dumbledore was as upset as he was. Harry nodded sadly. As Dumbledore moved up the line an Auror walked over to Harry.  
  
"Sir? We're ready to go back in if you want us to."  
  
"Who are we?" Harry asked, hope flaring in him. The Auror waved a hand behind him,  
  
"The two hundred Aurors behind me, the Goblins will come to. They want revenge." Harry considered it. He looked at the DA. They were standing there watching him. Hey were battle weary and exhausted, all of them were wounded and Ginny, was clutching her arm, which was bleeding profusely, to her chest. It was Hermione who spoke.  
  
"We'll go if you want us to." Harry looked up at the Death Eaters, the breach was filled by about a hundred of them, and they covered the top of the walls.  
  
For a minute Harry considered it. But one more glance at the exhausted DA quenched that fire.  
  
"No," He said to the Auror, "It's over, we lost. And now we just have to tell the wizarding world that."  
  
A/N IMPORTANT PLEASE READ. I'm sorry this is a day late. I broke up with my girlfriend on Thursday night and didn't feel like writing. If I had written it would have been poor writing.  
  
Ok, half term is upon me once again so I can't get a chapter written for about a week, next chapter should be up about 10th of June. Sorry  
  
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. 


	15. The War on Fudge and the Daily Prophet

Please read the A/N at the bottom, it is very important.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.  
  
The Second Darkness  
  
Chapter 15: The War on Fudge and the Daily Prophet  
  
The portkeys appeared in front of them, Harry and half of the DA grabbed onto one. Ten minutes later when everyone had managed to get at least a finger onto a portkey they felt the familiar tugging around their navel and suddenly they were back at Hogwarts.  
  
Harry hit the ground and sank to his knees. The adrenaline was gone from his body and the pain and fear hit him at last. He put his hands to his side and took them away to find the covered in blood. He could feel searing pain in six places on his body but it was hard to tell where they were, he was covered from head to toe in blood.  
  
He tried to stand but quickly fell back to the ground as his left leg gave way underneath him. He forced himself to his feet a second time and managed to stand. Ron and Hermione hurried forwards to support him as he swayed dangerously. Both of them were bleeding freely from several places and Ron had a shining burn on the side of his face.  
  
Harry began to limp forward towards the castle. Ron and Hermione stared after him,  
  
"Where are you going?" Ron called out to him.  
  
"Great Hall, everyone will be at lunch." Lunch, the word hit Harry like a sledge hammer, they had been fighting for thirteen hours...  
  
Harry continued limping towards the castle. He opened the doors and stepped into the Entrance Hall. With a heavy heart he slowly headed towards the large, oak double doors to the Great Hall.  
  
His shoes echoed in the empty hall, the distance closed and Harry's heart grew heavier. He paused as he put his hands on the double doors and closed his eyes,  
  
"Let them understand." He prayed. He shoved the doors open and stepped into the Great Hall. Silence fell and every head turned to Harry, hope on some faces and despair on others. One expression was clear on every face, horror. Standing in front of them was a boy who, twenty-four hours earlier, had been clean, healthy and had a relatively happy expression on his face. The change was scary.  
  
There was no happiness in his face, he was terrified. He was covered from head to toe in blood. There were numerous cuts and burns on his body, his face was covered with dirt and there was a long gash starting at his left temple and running down his cheek mixing blood and dirt. Underneath the layer of dried blood and dirt, his face was pale and terrified. It was his eyes that were the scariest. There was a terror in them and a haunted look, there was no shine in them; they were dull and scared. He was swaying slightly and was clearly exhausted. Every face turned to horror. He opened his mouth,  
  
"We lost." Exhaustion took over and he collapsed. Hagrid and McGonagall hurried forward, Harry forced himself to his feet,  
  
He swayed dangerously again and shook his head in a vain attempt to clear it. Harry answered the question they all wanted to know but no one dared to ask.  
  
"It was hell. We went there with just over nine thousand men. Just over three thousand returned. Terror, blood and death. That's all there was." Strength failed him and he staggered forwards. Hagrid caught him before he hit the ground. He never heard the screams of terror and disappointment that filled the hall.  
  
------------  
  
Harry woke up in the hospital wing the next morning. All his cuts were healed and he felt much better. Madam Pomfrey could clearly work miracles. Harry groaned and sat up, Madam Pomfrey hurried out of her office.  
  
"Good, you're awake." She handed him a goblet full of a bright yellow liquid, "Drink. All of it." She ordered. Harry drunk it down and made a disgusted face. She looked in approvingly,  
  
"How long have I been asleep?"  
  
"Thirty six hours, and I'm not surprised," she added when Harry looked astonished. "You had four first or second degree burns and at least six deep cuts. Two of which were infected. What you had been doing, I don't want to know. Using yourself as a human shield is my guess. I have never seen someone in such a bad condition! None of the other students who were fighting," here she made a disapproving face and Harry couldn't help but grin, "were in such a bad state, most needed a couple of cuts healing and a dreamless sleep potion and that was it." Harry's grin broadened,  
  
"Can I go?"  
  
"You've only been awake for five minutes and you're already bored of me?" her tone was serious but she looked relieved to see he was alright. "Very well, you can go." She left the room so Harry could get changed.  
  
Five minutes later he was running down to the Great Hall, his leg was still slightly painful but apart from that he felt fine. He opened one of the doors and tried to slip in quietly but to no avail. The students weren't having any of it; most of them looked up and cheered to see his return. Harry grinned and began walking towards the Gryffindor table. The students all noticed one thing; Harry's grin did not reach his eyes, they had not lost their haunted, terrified look.  
  
Harry went to sit in his customary place between Ron and Hermione, but stopped short, the two were sitting rather close to each other and a recent memory of two people in a freezing forest changed his mind, instead he walked around the table and sat next Ginny. He began reaching for the sausages.  
  
Harry had barely sat down when the loud rustling of hundreds of wings announced the arrival of the morning post. Everyone began talking loudly as people paid their owls and took their 'Daily Prophet's off of the owls. The excited chatter soon began to fade into a stunned silence and people began staring at either Dumbledore or Harry. Wordlessly Hermione handed her copy over to Harry and he stared at the front page.  
  
ASSAULT ON YOU-KNOW-WHO'S CASTLE FAILED. DUMLEDORE AND POTTER TO BLAME.  
  
Last night Aurors and Goblins assaulted You-Know-Who's castle but failed, probably due to blunders by Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore. Writes Daily Prophet reporter Susan Flayhen.  
  
Recently the location of You-Know-Who's castle was uncovered and despite warnings from the Minister of Magic plans were made to attack. Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter were to lead the army assaulting it. Originally only having six thousand Goblins they forced the Minister of Magic to give them over two thousand Aurors.  
  
"I didn't want to give them a single Auror, but they forced me to, I knew the assault would fail, unfortunately the fools didn't and went ahead with it anyway." Says Cornelius Fudge.  
  
Dumbledore and Potter were indeed fools, they are not leaders no matter how much they want to be and could not possibly lead an army effectively. It was clearly another of Potter's attempts of increased fame. Next time Potter; leave the leading to those who know how.  
  
Harry did not read the rest of the article. Fury boiled through him at Fudge's stupidity. He stood up and walked over to the top table, it was one of the few times when the teachers were present at breakfast.  
  
He strode towards Dumbledore and crouched down beside him. Dumbledore did not look angry, instead he looked calm.  
  
"Can Fudge not see how stupid he is being?" Harry asked him angrily, the rest of the school had broken out in excited mutterings, many of them casting looks at Harry and Dumbledore.  
  
"Evidently not." Said Dumbledore shaking his head. Harry paused, thinking about the words he desperately wanted to say. Eventually he decided to take the risk.  
  
"We need him out of office. He's still leaning on the 'Prophet' by discrediting us he's making it harder for us to defeat Voldemort as we will have less support and easier for Voldemort to gain support." Dumbledore nodded his head slowly,  
  
"That's exactly what I've been thinking. The problem is getting him out of office." The two of them noticed the silence that was descending over the hall as people strained to hear what they were saying. Dumbledore turned back to Harry,  
  
"Come to my office." The two of them rose and walked out of the Great Hall. They strode along the corridors in silence. They approached the stone gargoyle and Dumbledore stopped in front of it.  
  
"Pear Drops." The stone gargoyle began to move aside and Dumbledore turned to Harry, "Not as nice as lemon sherbets but still very nice nonetheless." Harry could not help but laugh. They climbed the revolving staircase. Dumbledore sat behind his desk and Harry stood opposite it.  
  
"The question is how to force Fudge out of office." Dumbledore mused.  
  
"I see two options, force an election and hope our candidate wins or," here Harry hesitated, "kill him." Dumbledore's widened, few people could say they had successfully surprised him but Harry definitely had. Harry hastened to continue; "Even if we do force Fudge out of office he can still make trouble for us. We need to prevent him from causing any trouble for us. We need to make Voldemort's job as difficult as possible and give us every advantage we can possibly get." Dumbledore nodded slowly,  
  
"I admit I had not seen that coming but I can see your reasoning. We have to hope that it doesn't come to that."  
  
"Another option is to force him to keep quiet, threaten him. Its not what we want to do, none of this is but it has to be done if we want to win."  
  
"We shall do that. Now we have to find out a way of doing it." Harry grinned,  
  
"Give me half a dozen members of the Order and I'll do it for you." Dumbledore looked grim.  
  
"I trust you Harry, so I'll give them to you, just don't do anything stupid, if this goes wrong we will be in serious trouble." Harry nodded and turned to leave,  
  
"But what will you do if something does go wrong?" Dumbledore called after him. Harry turned around, his face grim,  
  
"I'm an assassin, what do you think?" Harry didn't wait for a response, but turned and left.  
  
------------  
  
Harry sat in front of the fire that night, staring into the dancing flames, long after everyone else had gone to bed, thoughts running through his head. The haunted look had returned to his eyes. In one day everything had been turned upside down, they had gambled everything on winning that assault and had failed; he would probably have to kill the Minister of Magic, Voldemort was growing ever stronger and they were growing ever weaker. Harry put his head in his hands and began to cry softly, his tears unheard, his prayers unanswered.  
  
Ron and Hermione came into the room after doing their rounds. The common room was dark and empty apart from one figure silhouetted against the flickering flames of the dying fire. It didn't take Ron and Hermione long to recognise the figure who was shaking, his body racked with silent sobs.  
  
"Sirius?" said Ron softly to Hermione. She shook her head. They silently moved over to Harry and crouched down in front of him,  
  
"Harry? What's wrong?" Hermione asked gently,  
  
"I watched them die. I led them to their deaths, the Aurors, the Goblins everyone. It's my fault, my fault!"  
  
"You had no option. You had to do it, you had to try."  
  
"You don't understand. It was my fault; I knew the attack would fail. I knew it would, Voldemort is growing stronger and we're growing weaker." Ron gently tapped Hermione on the shoulder, and nodded towards the now dead fire. Hermione understood immediately and went to make a new one.  
  
"It's you who doesn't understand. They were prepared to die for you, they were prepared to fight and to sacrifice themselves. You didn't make them, they went of their own free will." Harry nodded, but still didn't look happy.  
  
"Harry, what's really wrong?" Ron asked him, "I've been your best friend for six years, I can tell when you're hiding something." Harry shook his head.  
  
"No, that was it. I just feel so guilty, I feel as though I've let everyone down."  
  
"Tell me the truth, if you can't tell your best friend then who can you tell?" Harry considered it.  
  
"If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone."  
  
"I swear." Harry sighed, fresh tears rolling down his face.  
  
"I'm going to have to kill the Minister of Magic." Whatever Ron had expected, that was not it.  
  
"What!" exclaimed Ron and Hermione simultaneously.  
  
"We have to force him to stop discrediting Dumbledore and I, if he won't keep quiet then me and Dumbledore have decided that he will have to be assassinated, and it will have to be that assassinates him."  
  
"Bloody hell!"  
  
"You can't Harry, you'll be caught and that will be classed as treason, a crime that carries the death penalty!" exclaimed Hermione. Harry shook his head.  
  
"You don't understand Hermione, these things have to be done. We have to win against Voldemort and to do that we need every advantage we can get. If Fudge makes life difficult for us and easier for Voldemort then he has to die."  
  
"But why you? Why not someone else?" asked Ron, fear obvious on his face. Harry sighed,  
  
"Because I am the assassin, because I am prepared to risk my life for what is right." Ron and Hermione were forced to accept Harry was going to do this. "It's not certain, though, he may decide to shut up when I threaten to play noughts and crosses on his back using my sword."  
  
------------  
  
Over the next few days Harry found it difficult to concentrate, his deadly task was a constant reminder of the brutality of war. Deep down Harry knew that it was more than likely that Fudge wouldn't keep quiet and that Harry would probably have to kill him.  
  
Ron and Hermione were always seen with their heads close together, talking in urgent whispers, glancing at Harry every so often. They had accepted that Harry would do this and were prepared to help him in every way possible.  
  
One night when the common room was empty apart from the three of them, Ron and Hermione walked over to where Harry was sitting, staring into the flames, his face sad and his eyes dull.  
  
"Me and Hermione have come to a decision. When you go into the Ministry of Magic, the DA and us will be waiting outside, if you get into trouble use the galleon and we'll come and help." Harry shook his head.  
  
"No, this is one time when you definitely don't have to put yourselves in danger. I forbid you to come, I'm not risking you dying when you don't have to." Hermione laughed,  
  
"Harry, you're the one who has to live. We're not risking you dying. You're the one who has to live for the prophecy. It doesn't matter if we die. We're not important. We can die and it doesn't matter. If you die then we lose. You've got to live" Ron nodded in agreement.  
  
"Yeah mate, we're expendable, you're not. If we have to die to protect you then," Ron shrugged, "It's a small price to pay for victory." Tears came to Harry's eyes,  
  
"Thanks guys, this means a lot." Ron grinned,  
  
"Anyway, we've been through worse." Ron shrugged again, "Taking on the Ministry of Magic? Easy mate. We should fight left handed to make it fair." Hermione and Harry burst out laughing.  
  
------------  
  
Harry woke up the next morning with the familiar feeling of dread; it seemed to be permanently there. He got up and shook Ron awake.  
  
"Wha'?" said his best friend groggily. Normal speech was not something Ron could accomplish in the mornings.  
  
"Swords training for me. In was wondering if you wanted to come and find out how you managed to survive the killing curse." Ron was instantly awake.  
  
"All right then." He leapt out of bed and quickly dressed. He followed Harry down into the common room.  
  
Five minutes later they were still staring up the stairs to the Girls dormitories trying to work out how to get Hermione.  
  
"Any ideas?" Ron asked Harry. Harry nodded slowly. He turned and walked about three feet away from Ron.  
  
"Ron, do you trust me?" Ron nodded warily; he could sense Harry was up to something.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Idiot. Banisco!" Harry's banishing charm sent Ron flying up the staircase and crashing into the wall at the top.  
  
"Aargh" groaned Ron as he picked himself up from where he'd landed in a heap at the base of the wall, "Thanks for that! You didn't have to do that, we could've just yelled for her, rather then send me flying into a stone wall at a hundred miles an hour!" Harry couldn't help but laugh. Ron's angry muttering was soon cut short as what looked to be every Gryffindor girl in the school came out of their rooms. Ron blushed crimson when he saw that many were wearing nothing but their knickers and bras.  
  
"Um... Is Hermione around?"  
  
"What's happening?" asked Hermione, coming out of her dormitory. "Ron! How did you get up here? Why are you up here at seven thirty?" Ron turned around and looked at Harry scandalized,  
  
"Seven thirty? You got me up at seven thirty! What the hell were you thinking?"  
  
"Ron, what do you want?" asked Hermione impatiently. Ron turned back to her,  
  
"Um, yeah...me and Harry...we were...yeah...spell...find out...Lupin...I'm going to go now." Said Ron quickly, turning around and putting his feet on the staircase. There was a thud of gears clicking into place and just enough time for Ron to realise what was happening, his expression to change to horror and for him to say,  
  
"Shit." Before he tumbled head first down the sliding staircase to land in a crumpled heap at the bottom. He picked himself off the floor and glared at Harry who was laughing so hard he had to lean against a chair for support. Hermione slid down the sliding staircase five minutes later, fully dressed. She walked over to Ron and put her hand in his. Harry was collapsed on the floor laughing and Ron gave him a vicious kick in the ribs before walking out of the Portrait Hole.  
  
Standing up with difficulty, Harry winked at the girls at the top of the stairs before running out of the Gryffindor common room after Ron and Hermione.  
  
------------  
  
Harry caught up with Ron and Hermione at the bottom of the marble staircase, Harry smirked at Ron's angry face.  
  
"Forgive me?" Harry asked innocently.  
  
"Sod off." Harry's smirk broadened. They walked out into the grounds, the dew still apparent on the grass. Thick grey clouds were massing overhead and it looked like it was about to rain any second. Lupin could be seen standing by the lake waiting for them.  
  
"You're late." He said with raised eyebrows as they approached.  
  
"Yeah, sorry. Ron's fault, he was messing around." Harry said, somehow managing to keep a straight face. Ron turned to Harry disbelievingly.  
  
"Me?! Hang on, who was that banished me up to the girls dormitories so I smacked into the wall and woke every single bloody girl in Gryffindor and got to see half of them in their bloody knickers!" It was Harry's turn to raise his eyebrows,  
  
"Surely you're not complaining about that?" Harry asked in mock horror, without waiting for him to answer Harry continued, "Parvati looked good in her pink ones, Lavender too. Although Ginny looked rather nice in her white ones." He mused.  
  
"Harry, that is my sister you're talking about." Ron said in a calm but deadly voice. Harry raised his eyebrows again,  
  
"So? She's growing up. She's turning into a rather hot young women."  
  
"Sirius would be proud of you." Commented Lupin. Ron however looked aghast,  
  
"I cannot believe you just said that." Harry grinned at him and was just about to answer when Lupin interrupted.  
  
"As amusing as this is, we've got swords training to do, Harry." Harry nodded and was just about to get into the starting position when he remembered something,  
  
"Hang on Lupin, one thing, how the hell is Ron still alive?" Lupin looked thoughtful.  
  
"In don't pretend to be an expert about this, I don't even know the incantation, but I will tell you what I know." He sat down and leant against a tree. The other three sat down on the wet grass opposite him.  
  
"You know that most Death Eaters lack the power to produce a proper Avada." The three of them nodded, "Well, the spell is like a substitute for it. It is not a proper Avada, merely a shadow of it. Avada Kedavra is an extremely complex spell, that's what makes it so hard to produce, Spell Strippers have studied Avada for years and are still not sure exactly how it works. They do know it attacks the brain and the heart, possibly shutting them down immediately, no one is totally sure. Now, Spell Strippers have also stripped this spell and know exactly how it works. It attacks the brain and the heart and begins to shut them down. It takes twenty-four hours for the process to fully complete and to make sure that no one heals someone hit by the curse it creates the illusion that the person is already dead. The curse isn't as complex as Avada and therefore isn't as hard to produce." Ron looked stunned,  
  
"I thought you said you weren't an expert." Lupin laughed.  
  
"I'm not. You should listen to a Spell Stripper. Now," said Lupin standing up, "Harry and I have work to do." Ron and Hermione nodded and began walking back towards the castle. When they were out of sight Lupin turned to Harry.  
  
"Dumbledore's told us. I'm one of the six." Harry felt a rush of nausea flood through him as he remembered but nodded anyway, slightly reassured by the fact that Lupin would be there.  
  
------------  
  
Harry was sitting in the common room that night trying to do his potions essay when the Portrait Hole swung open and in stepped McGonagall. She scanned the common room and finally her eyes rested on Harry.  
  
"Potter, you're wanted in the Headmaster's office" Harry nodded and stood up. He followed McGonagall down to Dumbledore's office. She didn't follow him in; instead she turned and walked towards the Transfiguration classroom.  
  
Harry walked up the revolving staircase and into Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore was sat behind his desk looking grave.  
  
"What would you like to see me about, sir?"  
  
"I sent a letter to Fudge earlier on requesting him to stop discrediting us. I have just received his reply. He says he is merely telling the truth and on no condition would he lie to the wizarding world. If we are to be discredited by the truth then that is our problem." It didn't take long for the truth to sink in.  
  
"So Fudge must die." Dumbledore nodded grimly,  
  
"Fudge must die." Harry felt sick. Physically sick. He was terrified, absolutely terrified. He had to kill the Minister of Magic. For a fleeting moment, Harry considered refusing. But he knew he had to. He took a deep breath,  
  
"I'll do it. I'll kill him. Fudge will die." Dumbledore nodded sadly, and a single tear trickled down into the old man's beard.  
  
"Thank you." He said softly. Harry nodded, bowed and turned to leave the room, knowing one thing for certain  
  
Fudge would die.  
  
And he, Harry Potter, will be the one to kill him  
  
A/N VERY IMPORTANT PLEASE READ.  
  
Ok, that's another chapter done, the final one of this fic. Unfortunately I have important exams on the twenty-first and I need to revise for them so I will not get the next fic "The Light at the End of the Tunnel" up until after them, probably the 1st of July. I am really sorry.  
  
On the 3rd of July I break up for the summer holidays and fly back to Malaysia and will not be able to get anything written for two months. Again, I am really sorry.  
  
The next fic will be about twenty chapters, maybe more.  
  
I hope you've enjoyed this fic, I have enjoyed writing it. To everyone who reviewed: Thank you, you have made this fic a pleasure to write.  
  
Kaydon – Thanks for the reviews. Quidditch? I think I have stopped writing that, I am too busy with the rest of the plot. Though I might throw in one or two matches in the next fic.  
  
WhiteWizard101 – Thanks for the review.  
  
OoXandiaoO – Thanks for the review. I'm sorry I made you cry...  
  
Rocky235 – Thanks for the review? Surprised Harry is still alive? How come?  
  
Sarah – Thanks for the review.  
  
The Lord of Pencil - Thanks for the review. I never said Harry killed about 3500 Death Eater. That is extreme. No I don't train with swords but I would seriously love to. Nice drinking game...  
  
Pixielax06 - Thanks for the review.  
  
Lillypotterfan - Thanks for the review.  
  
Charmed103 - Thanks for the review. Yep, they lost.  
  
Colm - Thanks for the review.  
  
Jessy-Allens - Thanks for the review.  
  
The Enchantresses - Thanks for the review.  
  
Anime-Master7 - Thanks for the review.  
  
LogicalRaven – Disappeared? Where have you gone, my friend?  
  
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing.  
  
Fireboy 


End file.
